Indian Railways' RDSO first to be declared SDO under "One Nation One Standard" mission

New Delhi [India], June 1 : Research Design & Standards Organization (RDSO), under the Indian Railways has become the first institution to be declared Standard Developing Organization (SDO) under one "One Nation One Standard" mission on Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the union commerce ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry said BIS, an Institution under Department of Consumer Affairs, after reviewing the Standard Making Procedures of RDSO, has granted it recognition as SDO on May 24.
The scope of RDSO's recognition as SDO is "Standards Developing Organization for products, processes and services for the railway transportation sector in India".
The recognition is valid for three years and will require renewal after completion of the validity period.
The ministry said that this unique initiative of two organizations under the Government of India will set a template for all the rest of the leading research and standard development organizations in the country to follow and adapt world class standards.
Through this scheme, BIS aims at aggregating and integrating the existing capabilities and dedicated domain-specific expertise available with various organizations in the country engaged in standards development in their specific sectors, and enable the convergence of all standard development activities in the country resulting in 'One National Standard for One Subject'.
"The Standard formulation procedures at RDSO will now be more focussed on Consensus-based decision making and will entail the 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 Conceptualization to finalization of Standards," the ministry said.
As per the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, some of the major benefits that will flow out of this recognition by the Bureau of Indian Standards, under the BIS SDO Recognition Scheme, include Larger participation of Industry/Vendors/MSME's/Technology Developers in the IR Supply Chain, increased competitiveness amongst Industry/Vendors, Reduction in Cost, Quantum improvement in Quality of Product & Services, Smooth Induction of latest evolving & 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.
It will also help in harmonizing the standardization activity thereby providing an opportunity for greater participation of all stakeholders in the formulation and implementation of National Standards and creating in the long run, a Brand India identity for the quality of the product manufactured inter the country, it said.
The initiative set to usher in a faster transition from the development of technology and innovation stage to actual use on the ground.
Research Designs & Standards Organization (RDSO), Lucknow, which is the sole R&D Wing of the Ministry of Railways, is one of India's leading Standard formulating Body undertaking standardization work for the railway sector.