Memorandum on the Introduction of Metric System In India

Abstract

The question of standardisation of weights and measures of India has now been under discussion for more than a century and several committees have gone into the matter. Every one has noticed the lack of any system in the weights and measures that exist in different parts of the country and are more or less of accidental and local origin. Weights and measures differ even within the same district and from commodity to commodity and even where the nomenclatures appear the same, what the units represent are quite different quantities. The state of affairs was much worse 100 years ago; but that is a poor consolation and the chaos and confusion that still persist create an element of uncertainty in trade; renders fraud on the part of retailers as easy as it is profitable and exposes the poorer and silent classes to constant risk of being cheated.