Terming the public outrage over food department circular that only 5-kgs of ration will be provided per family member each month, CPI (M) leader and MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has said the National Food Security Act (NFSA) should be implemented in the state in light of the CPI (M) resolution on the subject adopted by the Legislative Assembly unanimously on 27.08.2014.In a statement to KNS, Tarigami said the government should revoke the order at an earliest and should take a decision that will accommodate the genuine demands of the people in the state. He said that not only there are massive discrepancies in the database compiled by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department (CAPD) in the state but there is likelihood that the same will nurture corruption and malpractices in the department.He said that instead of bringing transparency and probity in the functioning of the CAPD, the department seems resistant to clear its image before the public. The CPI (M) leader observed that the government must not only do away with the cumbersome database process but should also ensure that no room is provided for malpractices in the name of such compilation.
Reminding the present dispensation about his private members’ resolution moved in 2014 seeking provision of 35 kilograms of ration at Rs 2 per kg to each family, Tarigami demanded that a large section of the society especially those born in 2011 and onwards that has been left outside the preview of subsidized ration be included in the same. The matter for enhancement of coverage under NFSA should have been taken up with Government of India, he demanded.He also cautioned that the NFSA should be implemented only after addressing all the apprehensions of the people in the state. “The government allay all apprehensions about the NFSA which people think will not only deprive them of the ages-old subsidy but would also affect a drastic cut into the quantities of rice and flour they used to get under the previous public distribution system,” he demanded.He also called upon the state government to explain the criteria adopted in its determination of priority and non priority sections of the society under the NFSA. (KNS)