The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has received approval from the government for creating 493 additional posts in various functions. The move will enable the authority to increase its headcount from the current 356 employees.
A large majority of the newly created posts are for technical functions, particularly at the cutting edge, that of Technical Officers (255 posts) and Assistant Director Technical (60 posts), where the staff shortage is particularly acute. In addition, 74 new posts of Central Food Safety Officers have been created.
According to FSSAI, the move will reduce its dependence on States for conducting food safety inspections and enable enforcing Central licensees directly.
The food safety regulator will also create posts in new functional areas such as social and behaviours change communication, training and capacity building and new technologies.