Quality Council of India (QCI) has been set up as a joint initiative of the Government of India and the Indian Industry. It is a non-profit autonomous body registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act.
The objectives of QCI are to:
Establish an accreditation structure in the country
Provide information on Quality & related standards
Spread quality movement in India
Besides establishing a national accreditation structure, QCI will provide strategic direction to the quality movement in the country.
QCI will work to:
Promote, coordinate, guide and implement a national quality initiative for building confidence Indian products and services and for improving the competitiveness of Indian industry.
Establish National Accreditation Boards suitable for the country and in accordance with the relevant international standards and guides for :
Bodies certifying quality management systems, products and carrying out third party inspection (National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies, NABCB)
Quality Management Personnel and Training Courses (National Accreditation Board for Auditors and Training, NABAT)
Testing and Calibration Laboratories National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)
Raise quality consciousness in the country through National Quality Campaign (NQC), such as conducting seminars, conducting study tours and using other forms of promotion, by promoting business excellence through quality award schemes, holding competitions etc.
QCI will have mutual recognition agreements with other international bodies.
The QCI structure is as follows:
| QCI | ||
| NABCB | Secretariat | |
| NABAT | NQC | |
NABL |
QIES |
The Society is governed by a Council comprising of 31 members, which includes representatives of various Ministries, Departments, and Industry Associations. A Governing Body provides the strategic focus to the activities of the QCI. Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Industries Ltd. was the first Chairman of QCI. The present Chairman Mr. Venu Srinivasan, Managing Director, Sundaram Clayton took charge from Mr. Tata in July 1999.
The activities of various Boards are as follows:
National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB)
NABCB undertakes assessment and accreditation of Certification Bodies as per Board’s criteria in line with international standards and guidelines. A Board comprising of various stakeholders from the industry and the government has been constituted to provide direction to NABCB.
In consultation with a core group of experts the Quality Manual, procedures and application package for NABCB schemes has been prepared. The Board will be ready to launch the accreditation schemes of Quality Management Systems and Environmental Management Systems after final review of the schemes.
NABCB was also represented at the annual plenary meeting of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) in Vienna from September 27 to October 1, 1999.
National Accreditation Board for Auditors and Training (NABAT)
NABAT certifies auditors of Quality Management System & Environment Management System. It also certifies training courses for such auditors in line with international requirements. A Board comprising of various stakeholders from the industry and the government has been constituted to provide direction to NABAT.
In consultation with a core group of experts the Quality Manual, procedures and application package for NABAT schemes was prepared. This has been approved by the Board. The Quality Management System (QMS) schemes of the Board will be launched shortly. The Environmental Management Systems schemes will be announced after about 3 months of the launching of QMS schemes.
National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)
NABL is functioning since 1985 and was registered as an independent society in 1998. NABL undertakes the assessment and accreditation of Testing, Calibration, Clinical and other laboratories as per Board’s criteria based on international guidelines.
More than 200 testing and calibration laboratories have been accredited till date.
For more details please contact the Director, NABL at the following address:
NABL
Department of Science and Technology
Technology Bhawan, New Mehrauli Road
New Delhi – 110 016
Tel no.: 686 4642 / 685 7661
Fax no.:686 4642 / 686 3866
E-mail : akc@alpha.nic.in
National Quality Campaign (NQC)
The focus of the campaign is on spreading awareness on advantages of compliance to quality standards and continuous improvement.
An expert Committee of eminent personalities has been formed to provide strategic direction for the campaign activities has been formed. Few activities of the campaign are as follows:
· Spreading of message through use of various media
· Organize specialized training for Industry
· Promotion & organization of Seminars and Conferences to share information
· Encourage curriculum of TQM in Educational Institutions
QCI was also represented on various national and international forums including:
First meeting of the Experts of the IOR-ARC Member Countries" , Colombo
Workshop organized by US-AEP (United States-Asia Environmental Partnership) for the accreditation bodies of ten Asian Countries, Taiwan
ISO-CASCO (Conformity Assessment Committee of International Organization for Standards), Geneva
Meeting of SAARC countries on the Standards, Quality Control and Measurements, New Delhi
Asia Pacific Laboratory Cooperation (APLAC) annual conference, New Delhi
QCI’s endeavor is to provide catalytic effect for encouraging economy, better result oriented research and development efforts and reduce multiplicity of inspections by different agencies through internationally accepted accreditation structure. For more details please visit our website http://www.qcin.org or contact at the folowing address
Quality Council of India (QCI)
II Floor
Institution of Engineers Building
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi – 110 002
Tel no.: 332 9321 / 332 9567 / 332 9260
Fax no.: 332 9621
E-mail : qcisg@bol.net.in