Quality circle certification

Courtesy: Quality circle certification

Post liberalization, India embarked on a process of creating the quality infrastructure in the country which can help Indian products and services easy access to foreign markets in the new order under WTO regime. In the process, an organization was sought to be established which would function as the National Accreditation body (NAB). The responsibility to set up the organization was given to the then Department of Industries (now Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)).

A committee of relevant ministries, governing bodies, and industry stakeholders was formulated in 1992 to propose suitable recommendations that can take form as an industry body. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion oversaw the process and the final recommendations were submitted to the Union Council of Ministers (Cabinet) in 1996.

Key recommendations included:

• need for establishing an organisation jointly run by the Government of India in conjuncture with relevant industries
• need for this organisation to be self-sustaining

Cabinet Committee accepted these and gave its approval to register a new autonomous body, Quality Council of India, under Societies Registration Act, 1860.

Project Planning & Implementation Division (PPID)

With a view of propagating a culture of quality, Adil Zainulbhai, the past Chairman of QCI, has been instrumental in modifying the council and creating a young and talented workforce. Since its inception in 2015, the Project Planning & Implementation Division has focused on solving the key issues of the government with the help of a young team. It received its first project in September from the senior bureaucracy to work with 20 central ministries to improve the servicing by examining the public’s grievances. The work includes project management, monitoring the performances of various cells, data analytics and tactical research. The key responsibilities include creating timelines and assessing the requirement of the plans, coordination with the stake-holders, methodology formulation and the overall execution and mobilization of the projects.

Major schemes and initiatives:

• Swachh Bharat Abhiyan – QCI held surveys regarding the progress of the initiative.
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna
• Swachh Survekshan
• Quality Council of India had been commissioned by the Ministry of Urban Development to conduct an extensive survey to measure the success rate of Swachh Bharat Mission. Under ‘Swachh Survekshan 2016’, QCI released hygiene rankings of 73 cities, including Tier 1 and Tier 2 as per Classification of Indian cities.
• 25 teams of 3 trained surveyors each visited 42 locations covering highly populated zones like railway stations, bus stands, marketplaces, religious places, residential zones and toilet complexes. 3, 066 geo tagged photos were collected as evidence
• Yoga Scheme
• In 2016, Quality Council of India introduced a voluntary certification for to assure standardised yoga practices across the world.
• Along with the yoga scheme, QCI also runs a certification for Yoga Training Schools. With objective of raising the standard of training professionals graduating from these institutions. Over 18, 500 aspirants registered under the scheme, 6, 000 examined and over 900 yoga professionals have been certified.
• A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Peru, Bolivia and Japan for promotion of certified yoga practices. Currently, it is in talks with Malaysia, Poland, Russia and Australia for such tie-ups.
• MSME registration under ZED
• Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, initiated the Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) model in 2016 as an integral component of Make in India. The model was conceptualised to help Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises improve quality and environmental standards to prevent return of goods after manufacturing.
• A flagship project of QCI, aims to certify over 1.25 Million MSMEs within five years to match international quality standards.
• e-Quest
• On 23 May 2017, QCI launched an e-learning certification in line with the government’s Digital India campaign to accredit manufacturers. The courses include Total Quality Management, Total Productive Maintenance and Manufacturing competitiveness. It enables entrepreneurs to gain certification in functional areas of manufacturing and quality practices.
• Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service consistently functions well. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only on product and service quality, but also on the means to achieve it. Quality management, therefore, uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent quality. Quality control is also part of quality management. What a customer wants and is willing to pay for it, determines quality. It is a written or unwritten commitment to a known or unknown consumer in the market. Quality can be defined as how well the product performs its intended function.