Quality consciousness at the core of making India a developed Nation, says Piyush Goyal

According to Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday, the government is mapping all laboratories across the nation in an effort to close any key gaps and modernise them in order to make India a quality-conscious nation.

Around 3,000 NABL-accredited non-diagnostic laboratories have previously been identified in India by the government-run Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). It is considering how to map the non-diagnostic, non-accredited labs established by PSUs, businesses, and educational institutions like IITs.

According to Goyal, “We will not be able to become a developed nation and utilise the benefits of international involvement that we are trying to promote unless we are leaders in quality.” At a one-day session on “Emerging Global Trends in Laboratories for Self-Reliant India,” Goyal was the featured speaker.

It is now appropriate to work with the private sector to develop a strategy for transforming India into a “quality-conscious country” by enhancing infrastructure, embracing contemporary technologies, and emphasising sustainability.

The effort of mapping the laboratory infrastructure that is available in India has begun. “We can now identify any significant infrastructural inadequacies in the lab,” he said.

The disparities could be in the length of time it takes to obtain a quality certification, the sophistication of the technology, and the type of lab equipment employed, among others.

According to him, the BIS is evaluating the crucial deficiencies in laboratory infrastructure and developing a roadmap in a set amount of time to repair these gaps.

The minister stated that in order to close the gaps, the government is considering making investments in the infrastructure of laboratories and possibly offering assistance to commercial labs for modernization.

The minister added that the government would use cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to minimise the need for human interaction while conducting tests and presenting those results.

Regarding quality standards, Goyal said that each product and procedure should adhere not only to Indian standards but also to international standards. “Today, all of our activity is a part of the bigger global ecology. “We cannot afford to exist in a totally different world,” he said.