Metrication Metrication or metrification is the act or process of converting to the metric system of measurement. All over the world, countries have transitioned from local and traditional units of measurement to the metric system. This process began in ...

, or the conversion to a measurement system based on the

International System of Units (SI) The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...

, occurred in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in stages between 1955 and 1962. The metric system in weights and measures was adopted by the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of t ...

in December 1956 with the ''Standards of Weights and Measures Act'', which took effect beginning 1 October 1958. The ''Indian Coinage Act'' was passed in 1955 by the Government of India to introduce decimal coinage in the country. The new system of coins became legal tender in April 1957, where the

rupee Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, ...

consists of 100 paise. For the next five years, both the old and new systems were legal. In April 1962, all other systems were banned. This process of metrication is called "big-bang" route, which is to simultaneously outlaw the use of pre-metric measurement, metricate, reissue all government publications and laws, and change the education systems to metric. India's conversion was quicker than that of many other countries, including its coloniser, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. This was helped by low popular

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

and the fact that there was previously no nationwide standard measurement system—British

imperial units The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed th ...

were used by the upper class, while various regional systems were used by the poor. The Indian model was extremely successful and served later as a model for metrication in various African and Asian countries. The National Physical Laboratory of India, located in New Delhi, is designated the maintainer of

SI units The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. ...

in India. It also calibrates the national standards of weights and measures.

History

Before metrication, the government of India followed the ''Indian Weights and Measures Act'' passed in 1870 which used the British imperial system. However, many other indigenous systems were in use in other parts of the country and this was a constant problem with government officials and the public at large. P. N. Seth was the founder and secretary of the Indian Decimal Society, whose aim it was to push for the introduction of the metric system in India. P. N. Seth was assisted by others in the society, such as professors Dr H. L. Roy, Dr S. K. Mitra, and P. C. Mahalanobis, and other leading Indian scientists. Since 1930, they advocated for discarding the old chaotic system by writing in newspapers, journals, participating in debates and distributing literature. During the post-

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

interim government, there were attempts to introduce some standardisation in weights and measures but the conservative section of the ruling party never allowed it to be passed. Then, outstanding scientific personalities and public figures were mobilised by the Indian Decimal Society. P. N. Seth put forward a scheme for metrication of currency on 17 January 1944, which was finally adopted in the Indian Parliament in 1955.

Common usage today

Today all official measurements are made in the metric system. However, in common usage some older Indians may still refer to imperial units.

Exceptions

*The heights of mountains are still recorded in feet. *The

Indian numbering system The Indian numbering system is used in all South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan) to express large numbers. The terms ''lakh'' or 1,00,000 (one hundred thousand, written as ''100,00 ...

of crores and lakhs are used. *Tyre rim diameters are still measured in inches, as used worldwide. *Body temperature is still sometimes measured in degrees

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined hi ...

. *Industries like the construction and property still use metric and imperial, though it is more common for area to be advertised in square feet and acres. *Bulk cotton is sold in ''candies'' (0.35 imperial tons, 355.62 kg) or ''bales'' (170 kg). *The motor industry still uses imperial

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

(hp(I)) for engine power. *Tyre tubes and carbonated beverages are filled in

pounds per square inch The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch (symbol: lbf/in2; abbreviation: psi) is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units. It is the pressure resulting from a force of one pound-force applied t ...

. *Clothing sizes are given in an integers of inches. *Shoes sizes increments are a third of an inch. *Football pitches are measured by length in yards and height in feet. * Display sizes for screens on television sets and computer monitors and measured

diagonal In geometry, a diagonal is a line segment joining two vertices of a polygon or polyhedron, when those vertices are not on the same edge. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word ''diagonal'' derives from the ancient Greek δ� ...

ly in inches. *Like in most countries, aviation altitude is measured in feet.

References

* Acharya, Anil Kumar. ''History of Decimalisation Movement in India'', Auto-Print & Publicity House, 1958. {{Metrication

Economic history of India Science and technology in India

History

Common usage today

Exceptions

See also

References