A meeting of the Sindh Food Authority was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister’s Special Assistant on Food Abdul Jabbar Khan, in which it was observed that the use of harmful spices can cause cancer.
Officials said that officers from all districts of Karachi participated in the meeting. Khan said that we are the representatives of the people and are accountable to the people. Giving orders, the Special Assistant said that the use of harmful spices not only causes cancer but also other epidemic diseases.
He is not satisfied with the performance of the Food Authority. Performance report should be submitted every month. He said that despite the ban on open and unhealthy cooking oil, how is it being sold to the public.
What is the Food Authority doing? Khan questioned and said that the licensing procedure should be simplified, registration should be done immediately, expiry date of all food items should be checked, and meat, fish and other items should be checked in hotels and restaurants. Quality should be checked.
He said that there are RO plants in every street, asked if all the RO plants are licensed, and whether the water from the RO plant is beneficial or harmful for the people? Khan asked the officers how many samples of RO plants had been checked. He said that milk is supplied to Karachi not only from Karachi but also from the rural areas of Sindh. All entry points for milk testing should be cordoned off with police and milk samples should be tested simultaneously.
If the milk is injurious to health, it should be discarded immediately and an FIR should be registered against the milk seller and he should be arrested. He asked the officers from where the lab tests are conducted, to which the officers said that since the Food Authority Lab has been organized in Karachi University, all the tests are done there.
Khan said that the medical certificate of all employees working in bakeries, hotels and restaurants should be checked. He asked the officers that every three months deposit report should be submitted in all circumstances and any kind of carelessness or negligence would not be tolerated. will be done and daily visits should be ensured.
The Sindh government has decided to start a crop insurance program to compensate for losses caused by various factors. Agriculture Secretary and other officials were briefed about the crop insurance plan in a meeting presided over by Sindh Agriculture Minister Sardar Muhammad Bakhsh Mehr.
Mehr said crop insurance is essential to cover potential losses from floods, rains, diseases, heat, pests and climate change. The government has also introduced the Benazir Hari Card to help farmers. It aims to provide crop insurance to farmers under the Benazir Horicard programme.
An insurance company will help farmers in Sindh to implement the insurance model. The provincial government wants the company to insure crops like rice, cotton and wheat. Mehr added that the agriculture department has approved a one-year pilot project for crop insurance, which will start in the kharif season of 2025. Under this project, the company will help farmers through area yield index insurance.
If the pilot project is successful, it will be extended to 27 more districts. After its success, sugarcane and other crops will also be included in the crop insurance program. The program will be started in two districts Larkana and Ghotki on trial basis in the first phase.