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20 Apr 2012

BIS to Develope International Standard for BPO Services

Bureau of Indian Standards (bis) has taken initiative for developing an international standard related to IT enabled business process outsourcing. This will ensure that we continue to retain the place of prominence that we have reached in the BPO sector through quality service to international clientele without compromise. This was stated by Prof. K.V. Thomas minister of consumer affairs, food & public distribution at the function to present “Rajiv Gandhi national quality awards 2010” on here today. He said that a highly competitive market has no place for an industrial establishment or a service provider that does not assure quality.“It is not just an issue of customer satisfaction. When we look at the larger picture, we know that the survival of Indian economy depends on how strong our business establishments are in terms of the quality of their products and services. Quality must be our national priority”, prof. k.v. Thomas said. His full address is as follows- 

“It gives me immense pleasure to be with you today on the occasion of presentation of “Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards 2010” to those entrepreneurs who, through sustainable and continual improvement in the quality of goods and services, have become role models for other Indian industries to emulate. The award has been named after our late Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi, recognizing the new thrust he had given to the quality movement in India so that India could move into 21st Century with pride. The Award has been designed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in line with international quality awards, like 'Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award of USA', 'Deming Prize of Japan' and ‘European Quality Award.’ I am happy to note that the Award instituted two decades ago is getting due recognition in India and is eagerly looked forward to as a State honour conferred on entrepreneurship for excellence in all aspects. 

In today’s era of liberalization and globalization, quality of products and services is one of the key factors for the success of any organization. Performance excellence is an important element of competitiveness which leads to efficient and effective operations. 

Total Quality Management (TQM), is an important approach for improving the competitiveness of Indian Industry. For TQM to succeed, an organization needs to integrate its philosophies and practices in day-to-day approach of running the business. Quality not only includes tangible aspects, but also, intangible issues, such as social responsibility of an organization towards environment, stakeholders, etc. It is gratifying that the BIS has published Indian Standards on important social issues like social accountability, fraud & corruption control, and good governance practices. 

Today, India occupies a prominent position in the global arena. India has made tremendous strides in the IT and telecom sectors, which are recognized worldwide. Our IT professionals are the most sought after in the entire world resulting in emergence of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), etc., as major service sectors. I am happy to learn that the BIS has taken initiative in developing an international standard related to IT enabled business process outsourcing. I am sure this will ensure that we continue to retain the place of prominence that we have reached in the BPO sector through quality service to international clientele without compromise. 

Besides, our country is also seeing a steady growth in the services sector, which is already exceeding 50 % of the GDP. The Indian consumers are looking forward to services of international quality in sectors such as health, banking, finance, insurance, tourism, hospitality, transportation and education. It will be a great travesty of Indian management talent if we are not able to live up to the expectations of our consumers. With a view to improving its services quality, at the initiative of Government of India, BIS has prepared the Indian Standard on `Quality Management Systems – Requirements for Service Quality by Public Service Organizations’. I have been informed that various Central Government offices like the Department of Posts, Central Board of Excise & Custom, Central Board of Direct Taxes are certified against this standard. Many Government departments in various States such as Department of Electrical Inspectorate, Thiruvanthapuram are also taking steps to implement this Indian Standard. This will definitely instil confidence in our people of the efficiency of our functioning. 

BIS has been operating product certification scheme and has granted more than 25000 licences against 944 Indian Standards. BIS has taken various initiatives to not only reduce the time taken for grant of licence, but also to have effective mechanism to check misuse of the standard mark, through search and seizure activities carried out by its Enforcement Department. The BIS is also operating Foreign Manufacturers’ Certification Scheme and has, so far, granted about 220 licences for various products like tyres, cement, MCB, Steel, Energy Meter, Plywood, etc. In order to safeguard the interests of common man, BIS is also operating the Hallmarking scheme for gold/silver jewellery/artefacts to certify purity of these precious metals. In a nutshell, the BIS, as the official agency responsible for evolving a national strategy for according recognition to business standards and integrating them with growth and development of production and exports, has been providing a new thrust to harmonious development of standardization and quality control. This also helps best business practices to disseminate. 

I take this opportunity to congratulate all the award winners and recipients of commendation certificates. We know that this honour does not come to them easily. It was a test of their mettle. The evaluation mechanism being adopted by the BIS in choosing the winners are based on sound principles. I am happy to note that some of the earlier awardees of the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards have also won international quality awards. I have no doubt that to-day’s winners will also go on to become world leaders in their business activities. I would also like to thank all those who have participated in this award process. Though all of them could not make it to the final round of winners, I am sure they will continue their pursuit towards excellence and will emerge as winners in the coming years.” 

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