A multilingual voice-based system aims to make food safety complaints faster, more trackable, and easier for citizens.
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has introduced an AI-powered grievance portal that allows citizens to report unsafe food, adulteration, and other food safety violations without completing lengthy forms.
The initiative is intended to make the complaint process more accessible while strengthening the state’s food safety monitoring system.
A key feature of the new portal is its voice-based complaint facility.
One of the main features of the new portal is its voice-based complaint facility. Citizens can describe their concerns verbally in Marathi, Hindi or English, after which the system converts the spoken information into a written complaint and registers it.
The approach could make the reporting process easier for people who may find conventional online forms difficult to navigate. Once a complaint has been registered, it is forwarded automatically to the relevant FDA officer for further action.
Complaints can be tracked and escalated.
The system also incorporates auto-assignment, auto-escalation, accountability and traceability features. Complaints are assigned to the appropriate officials, while cases that remain unresolved beyond the stipulated period are automatically escalated.
Citizens can also check the progress of their complaints online. This creates a digital trail from the initial report through the subsequent administrative action, potentially making the grievance process easier to monitor. The Maharashtra FDA portal covers a range of issues involving food and regulated products. These include food adulteration, unsafe food and sweets, unlicensed food establishments and other food safety violations.
Complaints can also relate to counterfeit or substandard medicines, as well as the illegal storage or sale of banned products such as gutkha and pan masala. The Maharashtra FDA’s official grievance system confirms that citizens can register and track complaints concerning food products, medicines and cosmetics.
