Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA)

About Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA):

• DGQA is an Inter-Service Organisation functioning under the Department of Defence Production in the Ministry of Defence.
• This organisation is more than a hundred years old and is responsible for second-party Quality Assurance (QA) of all defence stores and equipment, both imported as well as indigenous, for the Army, Navy (excluding Naval Armaments), and common user items for the Air Force procured from Private Sector, Public Sector Undertakings, and Ordnance Factories.
• DGQA approval implies that the products have been subjected to extensive testing, including simulations of extreme conditions.
• Apart from QA activities, the organisation is responsible for import substitution and associates with DRDO in the development projects.
• It also ensures Documentation, Codification and Standardisation Action for minimizing the variety of components/equipment. 
• The other services rendered are promotion of small-scale industries, post-procurement services,Defect Investigations and Technical Consultancy to the users, the Ministry and the production agencies.
• Organisational Structure:
  • DGQA Organisation is structured into eleven Technical Directorates, each responsible for a distinct range of equipment.
  • The Technical Directorates are structured in two tiers for functional purposes, comprising of Control lerates and Field Quality Assurance Establishments.
  • In addition, there are Proof Establishments in Armament Discipline for carrying out proof of weapons and ammunition.

What is Nipun Munition?

• Nipun is a soft-target munition designed and developed by the Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE), in association with the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune.
• NIPUN is highly user-friendly and deadly against the enemy.
• It is completely safe during handling, transportation, and laying.

Q1: What is the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)?

DRDO is the R&D wing of Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, with a vision to empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems, while equipping our armed forces with state-of-the-art weapon systems and equipment in accordance with requirements laid down by the three Services. DRDO was formed in 1958 by merging the then-existing Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO).

Source: DRDO hands over Authority Holding Sealed Particulars of ‘Nipun’ munition to Directorate General of Quality Assurance