KP Govt Completely Digitizes its Food Department

Atif Khan, the Minister for Food, Science, Technology, Information Technology, and Sports and Youth Affairs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), formally launched the provincial food department’s digitalization.

He unveiled the new system at the food directorate, hailing it as a watershed moment in the province’s food industry.

While speaking on the occasion, the minister highlighted that the ICT-based intervention is a complete system that covers all sectors, from storage warehouse management to fleet management, as well as e-inspection processes.

With a single click, the government will be able to check wheat stock records, making data rapidly available to decision-makers.

He went on to say that the KP administration is attempting to eliminate defects and discrepancies in records through ICT involvement and digitization of the system.

The new technology would convert traditional bookkeeping to an online database, providing authorities with real-time access to the information for each warehouse.

Mushtaq Ahmad, the Food Department Secretary, indicated that the food department’s supply chain management system (SCMS) will also be digitized. It will assess whether wheat was purchased locally or imported, keeping a record of each year, and will be able to anticipate how much wheat the province will require in the future. It will also maintain track of suppliers and procurement organizations.

According to the secretary, the Fleet Management System (FMS) would maintain track of the province’s transportation contracts and vehicles. The system will maintain track of all cars in real-time, no matter where they are in the system at any one time.

Similarly, the Statistical Branch Management (SBM) system will aid decision-making by creating regular-interval reporting dashboards for key stakeholders.

The Laboratory Management Information System (MIS), which will operate through the KP Food Safety and Halal Food Authority’s mobile and static laboratories, will eliminate human error in food testing.

All laboratory testing devices will be immediately linked to the central MIS, and the results of each food sample test will be instantly relayed to it.

The data will allow food authorities to develop adulteration trends in food items and target the most contaminated food goods.

According to Secretary Ahmad, the new approach would also handle regulatory inspections of the food department.

All field staff will submit daily inspection reports using a unique mobile application as part of the E-Inspection procedure. The employees will be able to digitally issue challans, while violators will pay the challan charge directly to the bank.

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