New Delhi, Oct 4 (KNN) The ZED scheme of the government of India has put the micro sector of India in tight corner, said Badish Jindal, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association (FOPSIA).

He said “After the failure of Demonetization, GST, Make in India and skill India, the biggest failure of Modi Government is its quality improvement scheme ZERO EEFECT ZERO DEFECT (ZED).”

In almost all the speeches prime minister raise loudly the implementation of ZED in India but this scheme is proving a curse for 6 crore micro units of India, he added.

FOPSIA President mentioned that the ZED scheme was launched on October 18, 2016 in Ludhiana by Prime Minister Modi with the budget scheme 491 crore.

In the first phase, the target was to issue ZED certificates to 22222 MSME’s  and the parameter of this scheme are kept as per international level that was impossible for the for the unorganized micro sector to achieve, added Jindal.

He said that the parameters are so hard that it is almost impossible for the micro sector to comply with the conditions of ZED. This is the only reason that in last two years among 6 crore micro units only 5 units got success in getting the ZED certification.

ZED is a replacement of ISO and five categories were framed for rating BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD, DIAMOND AND PLATINUM.

By now the total registrations for ZED are 20935 but the process is so tidy that by now only 68 companies got success in getting the ZED rating. Among 68 units 5 belongs to micro category, 13belongs to medium and 50 units belongs to small category, pointed FOPSIA.

Only one unit got Diamond certification and not a single unit got success in getting Platinum certification, Jindal added.

He further pointed that Punjab merely got two zed certifications one each in jalandhar and mandi gobindgarh.

Adding to this, he mentioned that Tamil Nadu got 13 registrations, whereas Gujarat and Maharashtra got 10 each. Haryana have the better position to Punjab with 8 certifications, Karnataka 5 UP and Uttrakhand little ahead with three each certification. Many states still have to open their account in ZED.

Raising the concerns, Jindal said that after this new certification system the procurement companies in India and abroad including public sector companies will prefer the ZED certified companies which may create hurdles in growth of micro sector.

Jindal pointed that the implementation agency of ZED is Quality Council of India and it has no offices in anywhere India except New Delhi. The company is also not having sufficient supervisory staff.

He added “Even after the 628 awareness programs and 117 training camps the number of ZED certifications in India is merely 68, which clearly indicates the failure of this scheme in masses.”

There is a dire need to ease the parameters of ZED for micro sector as this sector is most unorganized sector and requires a special care. Failing which this sector which holds about 98% share in MSME with around 6 crore micro units will lose its share in all procurement and benefit schemes of government of India, said Jindal.