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New Delhi : Research Design & Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Indian Railways has become the first institution to be declared Standard Developing Organisation (SDO) under “One Nation One Standard” mission of BIS ( Bureau of Indian Standards), an Institution under Department of Consumer Affairs. This unique initiative of two organisations under GoI is going to set a template for the rest of leading research and standard development organisations in the country to follow and adapt World Class Standards.
It may be noted that to attain “ One Nation One Standard” vision of Govt. of India, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body, has launched a scheme which provides for “Recognition of SDO”. Through this scheme, BIS aims at aggregating and integrating the existing capabilities and dedicated domain specific expertise available with various organisations in the country engaged in standards development in their specific sectors, and enable convergence of all standard development activities in the country resulting in “One National Standard for One Subject”.
Research Designs & Standards Organization (RDSO), Lucknow, which is the sole R&D Wing of Ministry of Railways, is one of India’s leading Standard formulating Body undertaking standardisation work for railway sector. RDSO took the initiative to seek recognition as a Standard Developing Organisation (SDO) under the BIS SDO Recognition Scheme. In the process, RDSO reviewed its Standard Formulation procedures to realign them with the Best Practices of Standardisation, encoded in the WTO-TBT “Code of Good Practice” and also mandated by the Bureau (BIS) as essential criteria for recognition as SDO, according to a PIB release.
BIS, after reviewing the Standard Making Procedures of RDSO, granted recognition to RDSO on May 24, 2021, as SDO (Standard Developing Organisation). With this recognition, RDSO becomes the first Standard Developing Organisation in the country to be granted recognition under the BIS SDO Recognition Scheme. The scope of RDSO’s recognition as SDO, as approved by the Bureau (BIS), is “Standards Developing Organisation for products, processes and services for railway transportation sector in India”. The recognition is valid for 3 years and will require renewal after completion of the validity period.
The Standard formulation procedures at RDSO will now be more focussed on Consensus-based decision making and will entail extensive engagement of all stakeholders including Industry, Academia, Users, Recognized Labs, Test Houses etc, in the process of Standard making from the very early stages i.e. from Conceptualisation to finalisation of Standards.
Some of the major benefits that will flow out of this recognition by Bureau of Indian Standards, under the BIS SDO Recognition Scheme, include Larger participation of Industry / Vendors / MSME’s / Technology Developers in IR Supply Chain, Increased competitiveness amongst Industry / Vendors, Reduction in Cost, Quantum improvement in Quality of Product & Services, Smooth Induction of latest evolving and emerging technologies on IR, Reduced dependence on imports, Thrust on “Make-in-India”, Improvement in Ease-of-Doing-Business, Recognition of RDSO on International Standards Making Bodies and Integration with Global Supply Chain / Global Trade.
The onus of complying with the terms and conditions, which entail conformance to the established Six principles of Standardisation with greater emphasis on maintaining Transparency, Openness, Impartiality, Effectiveness, Coherence, and Development Dimension, in the process of Standard making, will improve the overall confidence and trust of Industry and Technology Developers in the standards setting body i.e. RDSO and motivate all stakeholders to contribute in Standard formulation for Railway Sector in the country. Participatory approach to Development of standards involving all stakeholders in the process of standard making from the very early stages is set to reduce the time between development of standards and their ground adaptation or user utilisation.