The National Metrological Institute Bill, 2022 was passed unanimously in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology on Wednesday at Parliament House. Senator Afnan Ullah Khan chaired the meeting; that was attended by Senator Fauzia Arshad, Senator Sana Jamali, Senator Muhammad Humayun Mohmand and senior officers of the Ministry Science and Technology, National Physical and Standards Laboratory along with all concerned. Minister for Science and Technology, Senator Syed Shibli Faraz was also present.
Reviewing the contents of the Bill the Committee pointed out certain typographical errors; other than that there was consensus in principal that this Bill was overdue and it was a pity that it has been pending since a quarter century. The Committee was briefed that the National Physical and Standards Laboratory (NPSL) was established roughly four decades ago under Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), through a project as a national apex body for the maintenance of primary and secondary standards of measurement and for testing and calibration of standards and equipment.
NPSL deals with the establishment of infrastructure of metrology to implement and operate a unified and coherent national measurement system as per international requirements and practices for quality assurance and management system and to support legal metrology in Pakistan.
