Atif Khan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Minister for Food, Science, Technology, Information Technology, and Sports and Youth Affairs, formally inaugurated the digitization of the provincial food department on Wednesday.
He clicked the button to launch the new system at the food directorate, calling the development a milestone in the province’s food sector.
The minister explained, while speaking on the occasion, that the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based intervention is a comprehensive mechanism to cover all areas, from the management of storage warehouses to fleets, as well as the e-inspection procedures.
The government will now be able to review wheat stock records with a single click, making data instantly accessible to decision-makers.
He further elaborated that the KP government is working to remove flaws and inconsistencies in records by introducing ICT intervention and digitizing the system.
Traditional bookkeeping will be shifted to an online database through the new system, giving the authorities real-time access to the records for each warehouse.
The Food Department Secretary, Mushtaq Ahmad, revealed that the supply chain management system (SCMS) for the food department will also be part of the digitization. It will determine the wheat stock that was acquired locally, or that was imported, keeping a record of separate years, and will be able to predict how much wheat the province might need in the future. It will also keep a record of suppliers and procurement bodies.
The Fleet Management System (FMS), according to the secretary, will keep a record of the province’s transport contractors and vehicles. The system will keep real-time track of all the vehicles, wherever they might be in the system at a given point in time.
Likewise, the Statistical Branch Management (SBM) system will facilitate decision-making by developing regular-interval reporting dashboards for relevant parties.
The Laboratory Management Information System (MIS), operating through the mobile and static laboratories of the KP Food Safety and Halal Food Authority, will reduce human error in food testing.
All testing instruments in the laboratories will be directly linked to the central MIS, and the findings of each food sample test will be instantly transmitted to it.
The data will enable the food authorities to develop adulteration patterns in food items and target those food products that have been found to be most contaminated.
Additionally, regulatory inspections of the food department will also be covered under the new system, according to Secretary Ahmad.
The E-Inspection process will include all field personnel submitting daily inspection reports through a special mobile application. The staff will be able to issue challans digitally, while the violators will submit the challan fee directly to the bank.
Source: Pro Pakistan