The heap of files, signature statement of any government office in India, is soon going to be a thing of the past at least at the headquarters of Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration. This is going to be possible as computerisation is slowly taking over to save the officers from spending ounces of energy browsing through old files.
The software for processing applications for food and beverage licensing and registration was made online on January 12 by Maharashtra FDA. The software was launched for the Mumbai and Thane wing of the FDA. The launch was presided by Maharashtra food safety and FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade.
Software engineer Parminder Singh Saini from Logic Soft Solutions, deputed for the job said up till yesterday, around six licenses and three registrations were done using the software for Mumbai branch while Thane did three registrations.
“This is a big step ahead and soon you are likely to see the speeding up of processes,” said Suresh Deshmukh, designated officer under the new Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
However, there are still clarifications awaited by the FDA from the apex Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), particularly about renewal norms for licenses. Meanwhile, The FDA is asking food business operators (FBOs) to wait for the guidelines on the same.
“This is just the first step. Slowly software modules for modification, renewal, transfer and suspension of the licensing would be added in a phased manner to the software,” Saini said.
However, there are other issues which are likely to pop up in the coming up. One, FBOs who are not that well-versed with computers are doing rounds at the office in search of help in filling the form.
Also, not many FBOs understand English and Mumbai being a hub of businessmen with diverse languages, mostly local ones, are facing difficulties in filling the form. Though an option for Marathi language is also present but in reality not many computers would have keyboards for input of Marathi data.
The applications can be made on http://foodlicensing.fssai.
The software for processing applications for food and beverage licensing and registration was made online on January 12 by Maharashtra FDA. The software was launched for the Mumbai and Thane wing of the FDA. The launch was presided by Maharashtra food safety and FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade.
Software engineer Parminder Singh Saini from Logic Soft Solutions, deputed for the job said up till yesterday, around six licenses and three registrations were done using the software for Mumbai branch while Thane did three registrations.
“This is a big step ahead and soon you are likely to see the speeding up of processes,” said Suresh Deshmukh, designated officer under the new Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
However, there are still clarifications awaited by the FDA from the apex Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), particularly about renewal norms for licenses. Meanwhile, The FDA is asking food business operators (FBOs) to wait for the guidelines on the same.
“This is just the first step. Slowly software modules for modification, renewal, transfer and suspension of the licensing would be added in a phased manner to the software,” Saini said.
However, there are other issues which are likely to pop up in the coming up. One, FBOs who are not that well-versed with computers are doing rounds at the office in search of help in filling the form.
Also, not many FBOs understand English and Mumbai being a hub of businessmen with diverse languages, mostly local ones, are facing difficulties in filling the form. Though an option for Marathi language is also present but in reality not many computers would have keyboards for input of Marathi data.
The applications can be made on http://foodlicensing.fssai.
