Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Choudhary Zulfkar Ali on Monday stressed on the need for immediate switch over to digitalization of the department.The Minister called digitization need of the hour, and said failure to adapt the technology would only hamper in the growth of the State.Speaking during a review meeting, the Minister said that Union Government is asking the State Governments to go for cashless transactions. However, if the State in general and the FCS&CA department in particular failed to make immediate switch to digitized mode, it would put a stop on initiatives for the department.Reiterating the need to make the department online, the Minister said with everything connected through internet, everyone from secretarial staff to the staff in Direction Offices in both provinces would be aware with every update, including allocation, distribution, and other things in the department.
During the meeting, the Minister issued stern directions for putting up a complete stop on manual allocation of food grains from next month, and said that from next month everything allotted would be done through online mode only.The Minister also issued direction to ensure that grievance redressal mechanism, and supply chain management is put in place in the department at an earliest.Besides, the Minister also asked concerned officers to make the department’s website dynamic.Secretary FCS&CA Shafiq Raina, Special Secretary FCS&CA Nisar Ahmad, Director FCS&CA Jammu G S Chib, Director FCS&CA, Kashmir, Tassaduq Jeelani, Deputy Director Supplies, Mohammad Aslam, and other concerned officers attended the meeting.