Focus: Facts for prelims
Why in News?
India’s national accreditation system under the Quality Council of India (QCI) has been ranked 5th in the world in the recent Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021.
About GQII:
- The GQII ranks the 184 economies in the world based on quality infrastructure (QI).
- India’s overall QI system ranking continues to be in the Top 10 at the 10th position, with the standardization system (under BIS) at 9th and the metrology system (under NPL-CSIR) at the 21st position in the world.
- The GQII is an initiative of the independent consulting firms Mesopartner and Analyticar to research and disseminate data on Quality Infrastructure.
- It measures the relative development of countries’ quality infrastructure.
- A formula calculates a score for each country based on its position in the sub-rankings for metrology, standards and accreditation.
Quality Council of India (QCI):
- Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up in 1997 as an autonomous body.
- It was setup jointly by the Government of India and the Indian Industry represented by the three premier industry associations i.e.
- Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM),
- Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and
- Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
- It aims to establish and operate national accreditation structure and promote quality through National Quality Campaign.
- The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, is the nodal ministry for QCI.
- Chairman of QCI is appointed by the Prime Minister on recommendation of the industry to the government.
