Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today inaugurated the Maize Procurement Centre (Maize Procurement Mandi) at Seela, Reasi.Minister of State for Finance and Planning, IT, FCS & CA, Relief and Rehabilitation and Labour and Employment Ajay Nanda and Vice Chairman Kissan Advisory Board Daljeet Singh Chib accompanied the minister.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister stressed the need for establishing a ‘Food Procurement Corporation’ in the state to address the issue of food scarcity.The Minister stated that government is committed to ensure that all benefits of various schemes reach the deserving population. He further directed the officers to organize more and more awareness camps for generating awareness regarding various schemes among the common people to ensure no body stays out of the benefits of these schemes.The Minister also conducted extensive tour of the far-flung areas of the district and listened to the grievances of common masses during a series of public meetings at Sungri, Mahore, Arnas and ReasiDuring the public meeting at Mahore, people of the area demanded increased road connectivity to various food stores in the district besides repair of road connecting Mahore with Reasi.
The people also requested for filling up of vacant posts in the district, holding of more awareness camps by the district administration and conducting regular public grievance redress camps in the far-flung areas.People of Arnas apprised the Minister about the shortage of staff in various schools, dilapidated conditions of the roads, scarcity of food and establishment of food stores.The Minister patiently listened to the problems highlighted by the people and assured them that their genuine grievances would be addressed at the earliest. He also issued on spot directions to the concerned officers accompanying him, to resolve the problems being faced by the locals. The Minister directed the officers to ensure that the ration is being provided to the people at rates fixed by the Government under various schemes. He also urged the concerned to maintain transparency in the whole distribution process of essential commodities and stressed upon them to display rate list of various essential commodities prominently. Issues pertaining to revision of carriage rates were also discussed.
The Minister also threw light on various schemes of the department like MMSFES, NFSA, PMUY and urged the people to avail benefits of these schemes. Stressing that the PMUY scheme is aimed at empowering women and replacing the unhealthy traditional fuels used for cooking in rural households with clean and efficient LPG besides protecting them from many health hazards, the Minister distributed 120 Gas connections among the beneficiaries under the scheme. He further informed that about 1984 subscription vouchers for new connections have been distributed under PMUY in the district.Later, the Minister also convened a review meeting of major developmental projects presently underway in the district. He also reviewed the status of supply and stock position of food grains in the district.Director FCS& CA, Jammu G.S. Chib, Deputy Commissioner Reasi, Ravinder Kumar, ADC Shiv Kumar Gupta, SSP Reasi, Tahir Bhat besides various district officers and prominent citizens were present on the occasion.