New Delhi, Sept. 6: The central government is cracking the whip on spurious use of the ISI mark. Union minister for consumer affairs Sharad Yadav has directed the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to conduct nationwide raids against dealers and manufacturers who are faking this quality control seal.

Armed by the ministerial directive, BIS has already conducted several raids on manufacturing units in Delhi and Jharkhand who are using fake ISI Mark without holding a valid licence from BIS.

One unit in Delhi which was engaged in manufacturing packaged drinking water was found misusing the tags of popular brands and faking the ISI mark. Similarly, a cement company in Jharkand was caught using the brnad names ofLafarge and ACC.

None of these companies had a valid licence from the BIS.

Following these test raids, Yadav has instructed BIS to carry out nation-wide raids on suspect companies which could be spuriously marking their products with the ISI label.

To check the proliferation of spurious products, the government has brought 23 new items under compulsory certification from August 17 this year. These items include cables, electrical switches & sockets, MCBs, energy meters, fuses, electrical irons and other appliances.

BIS has stated that it will take strict action against those who manufacture these items and misuse the ISI mark without a valid licence from the Bureau. BIS has further said it wants the public to give information about any misuse of the ISI mark that come to their notice.