Indian Standards Institution
On 3 September 1946, the Interim Government of India passed its first resolution establishing the Indian Standards Institution as the National Standards Body. One of its objectives was to recommend national standards for measurements. In June 1947, Verman was appointed Director of the Indian Standards Institution.[7] He later became its Director-General, a role he held until 1966.[4]
Verman undertook a comprehensive study of the issue and prepared a report advocating the adoption of the metric system, incorporating Indian nomenclature for basic units and fractions. His report, submitted before India's independence on 15 August 1947, was later published in the Indian Standards Bulletin in January 1949.[4] Verman also prepared a report on decimalized coinage, aligning dimensions and weights with the metric system. Both reports were reviewed by the Engineering Division Council (EDC) of ISI, which recommended their adoption to the Government of India.[4]
In May 1948, a special committee chaired by Jnan Chandra Ghosh, Director-General of Supplies and Disposals, was formed to evaluate the metric system's adoption. The committee included representatives from central ministries, state governments, scientific bodies, and industrial organizations.[4]
Despite resistance from various stakeholders and concerns about costs and timing, Verman persisted in advocating for the metric system. In 1954, he presented his arguments to Pitamber Pant, then Private Secretary to the Chairman of the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission decided to undertake a comprehensive study, marking a significant step toward the metric system's eventual adoption.[4]
Further contributions
Verman acted as an Honorary Adviser to the Government of India on standardization from 1951 to 1970.[8] Verman was a founding member of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE).[4] After retiring from ISI, Verman continued to contribute to the field of standardization. From 1966 to 1967, he served as Chief Adviser to the Director-General of the Institute of Standard and Industrial Research in Tehran, Iran.[9] Subsequently, he worked as a Senior Regional Adviser on Industrial Standardization for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Far East (EGAFE) in Bangkok from 1967 to 1970.[9] He assisted several countries, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, in developing their national standardization programs.[4] He also worked as a Senior Consultant to ISI between 1966 and 1969 and later as an industrial consultant.[8] From 1974 to 1975, he led the USAID Project Team for the study of National Standards System of South Korea.[4]