Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Choudhary Zulfkar Ali today said that the department has carried out various innovative, reformative measures to rejuvenate its functioning for effectively carrying out its duties towards the people.Winding up the Discussion on Demand of Grants for FCS&CA Department, the Minister said the implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA) is a major achievement of the current dispensation as it has benefitted the poor and downtrodden sections of the society.He further said that introduction of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMSFES) launched in July last year provided the additional ration to supplement existing food supply under NFSA to the consumers.Giving the breakup about the scheme, the Minister said that the total annual allocation of 30, 4437.60 metric tons (MTs) were provided to cover a population of 11952130 in the State. He further informed the House that under National Food Security Act (NFSA) in (priority-PHH) food grains of 39470.76 MTs were released to targeted population of 7413185 in the State. He said under Non-Priority-NPHH the department provided 23119.33 metric tons (MTs) to a population of 4538945.Giving details about the financial implications, the Minister said that State budget under NFSA (PHH & NPHH) and MMSFES would procure 1096422.18 MTs of food grains at the cost of Rs1,28 323.55. The Minister informed that total 5,970 Fair Prices Shops (FPS) are presently operating in the State, where as the Department is in pursuit to open more than 4000 new FPS in the State. Besides, the Minister said that the dealer commission has also been enhanced to Rs 143 per quintal. Giving details about the implementation of Prime Minister’s UjjwalaYojana (PMUY) in J&K, the Minister said that so far more than 1.9 lakh women beneficiaries from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families were provided with LPG connections under the scheme.
He said that a full proof mechanism has been set up to check all kind of pilferages and streamlining the distribution of ration in the State. “To check any kind of pilferage of food grains in FCI/FCS&CA stores, installation of GPRS in all vehicles transporting food grains meant for Public Distribution System has been made compulsory,” the Minister said.Providing details of distribution of food grains in Kashmir during recent unrest, the Minister said from July 2016 onwards, the Department of FCS&CA has distributed 2,28,130 MTs of Rice, 8,885 MTs of Atta, 19,055 MTs of sugar. He added that 78,20,000 litres of kerosene oil(excluding Ladakh) 22,95,455 LPG cylinders, 6,89,000 litres of Diesel and 4,92,33,000 litres of petrol (MS) were distributed from July 2016 to November 2016 in Kashmir Division.He also informed the House that the Department is in the process of adapting various innovative measures especially Electronic Distribution System on lines of states like Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu. He also said that a colour coded system for vehicles carrying food grains would soon be introduced which would help in monitoring and putting check on any kind of malpractices.To run the department on modern lines and for efficient supply chain management, the Minister said that computers are systematically being installed in department offices, godowns in the state.He added that cent percent digitization of ration cards has been achieved and the cards are already available on web portal www.jkcapd.nic.in.Responding to the various issues raised by the legislators, the Minister assured them that all necessary steps would be taken to address their concerns.
The legislators widely applauded the Minister and his department for ensuring regular food supply to the people across the State, especially in the valley during the unrest. They also appreciated the Minister for carrying out innovative and reformative measures in recent times.Earlier, several legislators took part in the Discussion on Demand of Grants for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs departments. They include Kuldeep Raj, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Mohammad Akbar Lone, Vikar Rasool Wani, Pawan Kumar Gupta, R S Pathania, Abdul Rahim Rather, Ishfaq Ahmed Sheikh, Asgar Ali Karbalie, Bashir Ahmad Dar, Dr Krishan Lal, Yawar Ahmad Mir, Shamima Firdous, G M Saroori, Neelam Kumar Langeh, Raja Manzoor Ahmad, Engineer Abdul Rashid, Shakti Raj Parihar, Ch Sukhnandan Kumar, Abdul Majid Padder and Abdul Majeed Larmi.Later, the House passed the grants of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, for the year 2017-18, which were moved by the Minister, amounting to Rs 54048.51 lakhs with voice vote.The members, who moved the Cut Motions on the Grants, withdrew after the satisfactory reply from the Minister.