The first meeting of the newly formed State Level Committee (SLC) for standardisation, quality systems and hallmarking activities for Meghalaya was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Rebecca V. Suchiang today in the conference hall of the Secretariat building here.
Principal Secretary, Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Dr. Shakil P. Ahammed welcomed the members and explained about the objectives of the State Level Committee.
In her inaugural address, Suchiang stressed that the committee should take up the action included in the agenda of the meeting like creation of standardisation cells in government departments, certification of piped drinking water, awareness about hallmarking of gold jewellery and its implementation by involving self-help groups, besides capacity building of government departments on standards formulation, promotion and implementation.
She also emphasised on the need of the government departments to work in tandem with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in order to achieve the objectives of the committee.
BIS Deputy Director General Eastern Region Pawan Kumar Kandoi as a member of the committee emphasised that relevant Indian standards may be referred in their tenders and procure ISI marked goods by government departments.
He also requested the State government to go for certification of piped drinking water, preventing sale of non-ISI packaged drinking water, implementation of quality control orders and setting up of assaying and hallmarking centres in the State.
He stressed the need for creation of a standardisation cell in government departments, formation of student clubs for better understanding of quality, safety and standardisation in schools and implementation of management system certification in government departments.
During the meeting, it was decided to share the list of Indian Standards with the relevant government departments for their reference in tenders and procurements.
It was also decided to take up with the Industries Department for setting up an assaying and hallmarking centre by private entrepreneurs.
The SLC meeting ended with a vote of thanks by Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Secretary Pravin Bakshi.
