The Directorate of Health is all set to ease licensing process to food business operators planning to setup up units anywhere in Jharkhand. The upgraded system of licensing will be rolled out in next few days as the directorate has made all arrangements, including capacity building to facilitate online application and for obtaining licenses.
The online method of application will be given to entities that will be setup with a capital of Rs12 lakh and above. The system as devised will facilitate online application from a place equipped with computer and internet. The application filed will be made available to designated officers (DO) and food safety officers (FSO) who will inspect the premises before issuing licenses.
Under the improved system, an applicant will need to furnish scan copy of chalan paid at a treasury and submit the same at the respective office of DOs or FSOs. The certificates can be downloaded from anywhere. “A person can make application as per convenience which will be reflected on the system of the DOs and FSO. The DOs and FSOs will inspect the premises within a week’s time to ascertain compliance as laid in the food safety act and take actions accordingly,” said Director-in-Chief (Food), Praveen Chandra.
The directorate will assign a unique code to all DOs and FSOs which will be released upon approval from Food Safety Commissioner. The codes will be used to file application from anywhere and the whole system will go online as soon as the code is released by the department. The system will be implemented across the State at the same time.
“We have asked for data regarding food registration from all DOs. And the day the system will go online we will not entertain manual application and all offline activity will cease from that day onwards,” maintained Chandra. However, resource crunch could be the biggest stumbling block in the directorate’s endeavour to reduce human interface between a food business operator and license issuing authority.
With too few hands to monitor food safety the directorate is likely to rely on external help from District Project Management Unit. Department of Health, parent department of the directorate, has suggested more resources like computer system at the FSOs offices and also outsourcing a part of the activity until a proper arrangement is made.
“Until fresh order a civil surgeon’s premises will be used for this purpose. A district data manager will be asked to assist ACMO (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) and FSO in the entire process,” added the Director-in-Chief. Meanwhile, the directorate has equipped its human resource with technical know-how and apprised them with the nitty-gritty of the system that will be put in place. More than 60 officials have been provided training so far at the Institute of Public Health.