7,000 digital tabs for agri officers

As the cash- strapped Government struggles to raise funds to import essential items into the country, the Agriculture Ministry has called for bids to procure 7000 digital tablets to be distributed among agrarian officers, as part of a major digitisation initiative.

The Procurement Committee at the Ministry invited bids last week from potential bidders who recorded Rs. 750 million annual turnover within the last five years and a minimum of five years experience in digital tablets.

To establish a central database, the Ministry is planning to distribute 7000 Tabs among agriculture research and production assistants and agriculture field officers. This will enable them to gain immediate access to the database on the ground, a ministerial memorandum said.

Following the completion of this database, it will be possible to prevent all forms of abuse, fraud and various losses occurring in the field of agriculture thereby saving a sum of Rs. 500 million annually, the memorandum added.