Secretary Consumer Affairs Shri Rajiv Agarwal, Additional Secretary Shri Rakesh Kakker, Senior officers of the department, Secretaries and Directors from the states, Media persons and other invitees,
We are meeting at a point in time when the implementation of legal metrology legislation assumes special significance in the country. With increasing reliance on the market for providing merit goods and even essential commodities, the regulation of fair domestic trade from a legal angle now extends way beyond the traditional concept of weights and measures. A technological revolution has generally by passed us with digital and information technology tools being available and applied all around the world. The time calls for concerted action from all of us, to protect the consumer by using the new developments in legislation and also just enforcement without which we would be failing to balance the consumer interest. If consumer distrust develops beyond a point and good redress measures are not in place, the faith of the consumer in the open markets itself would be affected to our disadvantage. Therefore the ambit of weights and measures must now expand to address a wide variety of services with the latest technology, training and enabling legislation.
I am sure you are aware about the recent developments in legislation, namely the Legal Metrology Bill 2009 which I had good fortune to pilot ij the last Parliament session and has become an Act. The operative part of the Act will get a fillip from the Rs 144 Crore central sector scheme we have launched, namely the “Strengthening weights and measures infrastructure of states and UTs “ in 2009 for 2009-12.
Let me touch upon some salient features of the changes in the anvil. Firstly, the legal metrology officers qualifications have been now prescribed, which will lead to better professionalization of the cadre. Technical and scientific qualifications shall be necessary to be legal metrology officers from now on. This will check many states which have appointed unqualified personnel without technical and scientific knowledge to enforcement officer’s posts involving regulation.
The testing for standards shall now not be restricted to government labs. A new concept of government approved test centers (GATCs) has been introduced. The GATCs will break the monopoly of the vested interests in the sector and offer competitive testing facility for industry and entrepreneurs. It will also offer multiple testing facilities for repeat testing a result. GATCs should not be viewed as an institutional alternative to the legal metrology cadre but a supplement under government approval. At no stretch of imagination can the present government machinery cater to the large need to calibrate, test and enforce the standards prescribed. States will be free to use public and private sector testing labs or institutions for the purpose.
Slowly the GATCs must be used to expand the scope of testing and calibrating testing equipment and new entries like electricity meters, vehicular pollution, clinical medicine equipments, medical electronic equipments etc brought under is ambit. Fears, expressed by some quarters that the government is diluting its responsibility are out of place. The participation of the private sector will only improve the overall capability. It should be viewed as such and used as a golden opportunity to rectify the inadequacies of the present system.
Without adequate instrumentation and capacity building the provisions of the Act cannot be put to action. The central sector scheme I have mentioned must be put to use here. Laboratory buildings, standard equipments etc can be funded under the scheme. Capacity building of the enforcement officials in BIS and other national referral labs can be funded from the project. The Fluid control research Institute Kerala is going top be the nodal agency for the laboratory management, verification lab for the dispensers used for fuels, CNG, and LPG. The Indian Institute of Legal metrology, Ranchi will also provide support. Both centers are going to get huge budgetary support.
I am sure that this conference shall discuss these and other aspects in the agenda, in depth and take suitable decisions to take the plans ahead. I look forward to receiving, even after this, valuable suggestions from attendees from various states. We need to have more coordination with the institutions like the National Physical Laboratory, in the coming days. States and centre need to be in constant conversation also. I wish we can display excellent models in synergy and operational impact of the programme which must become a model one.
I feel that the department of the consumer affairs, though it may be the small in terms of personnel in my Ministries, has the greatest challenge and task of all: To make the customer feel that justice has been given to him. I wish the Secretary and his team all the best in their endeavors. I shall continue to offer my support thorough out.
I wish the conference success and declare it open.
Jai Hind.
