Bhubaneswar, August 11: The Odisha government on Tuesday directed departments to strengthen the use of Indian Standards in public procurement, infrastructure, and essential services, with greater coordination with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

The decision was taken at the third meeting of the State Level Committee on Standardization, chaired by Chief Secretary Anu Garg at Lok Seva Bhawan.

The committee called for training programmes on Indian Standards for officials of departments including PWD, Health, Agriculture, Water Resources and Urban Development. It also stressed better testing infrastructure and wider use of BIS standards in government procurement.

The meeting promoted the BISCARE App to help consumers verify ISI and HUID marks, access standards and report sub-standard products. WATCO and Rural Water Supply and Sanitation were asked to consider a pilot project for implementing BIS standards for piped drinking water.

The government also supported setting up a modern BIS office and laboratory complex in Odisha, with priority testing facilities for gold, silver, steel and aluminium.

Chief Secretary Garg stressed that standardisation is essential for quality, safety and efficiency and called for stronger awareness and coordination between BIS and state departments. She directed the committee to meet at least twice a year to review progress.