Govt launches portal to send alerts on food import rejections

New Delhi: Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has developed an online portal designed to notify the public and relevant food safety authorities about food import rejections at Indian borders, Union health minister J.P. Nadda said while highlighting the new government’s achievements in its first 100 days.

The portal – Food Import Rejection Alert (FIRA) — will generate alerts on a food consignments rejected by India due to poor safety standards, he said. The portal was launched during the second edition of the Global Food Regulators Summit 2024 hosted by FSSAI at Bharat Mandapam in the national capital on Friday.

The portal will facilitate rapid exchange of information among authorities worldwide on food safety and health risks stemming from rejected food. It will also enable relevant food authorities to take immediate action for prevention and control of risks before it causes harm.

On 12 July, Mint reported that FSSAI has rejected over 1,500 imported food items such as walnuts, apples, whisky, cheese products, almonds, and dates from various countries, including developed ones, in the past one year for not conforming to the standards laid down by the Indian food regulator.

The new portal has an online interactive interface for rapid dissemination of information to ensure enhanced traceability and transparency. It also serves as a valuable database for tracking rejected food products and for further strengthening of the risk management system.

Achievement in healthcare sector

The Modi 3.0 government’s another big achievement in healthcare sector is the recent announcement of the expansion of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) health insurance scheme to include all senior citizens, irrespective of income group, aged 70 years and above that will potentially benefit around 60 million individuals across 45 million families.

Another significant milestone is development of U-WIN portal to fully digitize vaccination services for pregnant women and children from birth to 17 years under the universal immunization programme.

As on 16 September, about 64 million beneficiaries have been registered, 10.4 million vaccination sessions have been held and 230.6 million administered vaccine doses have been recorded on the portal.

“Prime minister Narendra Modi will launch the expanded scheme of Ayushman Bharat PMJAY for people in the age group 70 age and above and roll out U-WIN portal in October this year,” the health minister said.

The government also introduced a new TB treatment regimen and made-in-India TB diagnostics. The new treatment regimen is shorter and more efficacious and is now available for use under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP). This would help in reducing the treatment duration from 9-12 months to 6 months. The health ministry is in consultation with the state governments and is preparing a detailed roll-out plan for logistics and training of healthcare professionals for the introduction of this new regimen early next year.

The minister also said that there has been an increase in the number of medical colleges and MBBS and PG seats, which would would lead to an increase in the availability of doctors.

Undergraduate medical seats have risen from 108,940 in 2023-24 to 115,812 in 2024-25, while post-graduate seats have increased from 69,024 in 2023-24 to 73,111 in 2024-25.

Earlier this month, the government introduced National Medical Register (NMR), a comprehensive dynamic database for all allopathic registered doctors in India, to authentic them.