Mumbai’s Raj Bhavan aims to country's first with ISO tag

If everything goes as planned, Mumbai’s Raj Bhavan will become the first in the country to acquire an international organisation for standardisation (ISO) tag. Raj Bhavan is the official residence of the governor of Maharashtra.

The administration recently invited tenders from quality management consultants to obtain ISO 9001:2008 certifications.

Bhavan officials admit there were technical and administration problems in standardising the entire process, which they worked on in the last year. They added that they would have to create a more transparent and accountable procedure to win this tag.

Vikas Rastogi, secretary to the governor, said Bhavan officials want to maintain standards that ensure desirable services such as quality, environmental friendliness, reliability, efficiency and inter-changeability, and at an economical cost. “No Raj Bhavan has won such an accreditation,” he said. “We will appoint an agency in the next month following the tender norms, and within the next six months, we will go in for an inspection.”

Standardisation will range from managing important files to replying to every letter received in the office. Raj Bhavan has a staff of around 250, and receives over 150 letters from the public. The letters are directed to the departments concerned, which sends back information and reports. Post standardisation, these tasks will become more streamlined and efficient.