KARACHI: Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput on Wednesday directed the Sindh Food Authority (SFA) to recruit technical experts and establish its offices in all district of the province.

He gave these directives while chairing a meeting, which was attended by Food Secretary Raja Khurram Shehzad, Services Secretary Khalid Haider Shah, Director General of the Sindh Food Authority Agha Fakhar Hussain and other officials.

“The chief secretary emphasised the need for the prompt formulation of service rules of the food authority,” said a statement issued after the meeting. “He directed the food secretary and the SFA director general to present service rules before the upcoming meeting of the Sindh cabinet.”

In order to enhance its technical expertise, the meeting decided to hire technical staff for the SFA.

The chief secretary said that the government would provide suitable pieces of land for the establishment of district-level offices of the authority.

During the meeting, the annual performance report of the SFA was presented, which suggested that the authority conducted inspections of 201 canteens including of some hospitals.

“The SFA DG informed the meeting that raids were conducted on 5,546 milk shops and 810 ice factories in the province,” it said.

“Furthermore, 4,087 meat/poultry shops, 2,159 manufacturing units and 9,834 bakeries were inspected. In Karachi division alone, 269 RO plants were inspected and action had been taken against 67 non-compliant RO plants,” the statement said.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2023