Minister for Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Choudhary Zulfkar Ali today said that the department has successfully covered 119.25 crore State population under National Food Security Scheme (NFSA) and provided additional ration to 7407460 beneficiaries under Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMSFES) to supplement existing food supply under NFSA to the consumers.Winding up the discussion on Demand for Grants of Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs department in the Legislative Assembly today, the Minister informed the House that for the current year, under NFSA, the department has allocated 324432.852 Mts food grains to Jammu division and 426648.228 Mts to Kashmir division, besides, a yearly allocation of 288768 Mts food grains to both divisions under MMFSES.The Minister said “Consumers are being provided essential commodities as per entitled quota within fixed timelines and due attention is being paid to ensure quality of food grains being supplied”.With regards to distribution of sugar to the consumers, he informed that 74.13 lakh beneficiaries were provided sugar by the state out of its own resources as the subsidy on sugar has been withdrawn by GoI with effect from April, 2017.
Regarding status of distribution of ration cards to consumers, the Minister informed that 80.56% beneficiaries have been provided with ration cards; distribution of remaining cards is being expedited.While informing the House about reduce in Kerosene oil quota to the state, he said that allotment to state during 2013-14 was 94698 KLs which has declined upto 39% during 2017-18 to 58476 KLs owing to GoI’s efforts to increase penetration of LPG; GoI likely to phase out KO’s allocation by April 2019.“Digitization efforts have been launched full swing to revolutionize functioning of the department and increase transparency in the system. In this regard, Electronic Distribution System e-PDS has been introduced in the State,” the Minister informed.He said that various components of e-PDS system including online allocation of food grains, customized supply chain management, installations of POS machines, geographic information system (GIS), constitution of vigilance monitoring committees (VMC), ration cards seeding with Aadhaar, online grievance redress portal, GPS trackers, color coding system, will induce effective monitoring besides helping put a check on malpractices.Giving details on e-PDS, the Minister informed that 1457 Point of Sale Machine (POS) have been installed in 5 districts so far and remaining districts will be covered by end of February 2018, 6411 VMCs have been constituted and 1571939 (56%) Ration Cards have been seeded with Aadhaar so far.
Further, to lessen the burden on existing Sale outlets/FPS besides employment generation, 4388 new FPS have been sanctioned and 1085 issued so far to the people.Regarding implementation of Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojna (PMUY) in the state, the Minister informed that J&K has been ranked No 1 in the country in distribution of free LPG connections to BPL women beneficiaries of the state.He said that 360218 free LPG connections have been issued under PMUY to the beneficiaries against total number 667344 beneficiaries identified to be covered under the scheme in the state.The Minister further informed the House that J&K has recently been awarded by GoI for best overall performance in Civil Supplies (Promoting Oil and Gas Conservation) (SAKSHAM), for State’s performance during 2017.The Minister said that 56 new LPG agencies will be established to expand the network of LPG retail outlets in the state. “Government of India has sanctioned a LPG outlet at Sedhow, in district Shopian through department of FCS&CA for further allotment to pellet victim Insha, as a relief measure”, he stated.Enumerating on activities of Legal Metrology Department, the Minister said that to ensure enforcement of safeguards created for consumer protection, 40861 market inspections against complaints and 83396 inspections for enforcement of consumer laws were conducted in year 2017-18 till date, realizing an amount of Rs 66.59 lakh and Rs 101.06 lakh respectively.The department has also established Gold Testing laboratory, Food Testing laboratory, Research and Development Center, Working Standard laboratories across the state for strengthening LMD in the state, the Minister informed.
The Minister asserted that steps have been taken to strengthen the Consumer Protection Act in the State with measures like reconstitution of J&K State Consumer Protection Council, District Consumer Protection Councils and designation of State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission as State Food Commission, among others.For effective implementation of the Act, steps including effective enforcement for dual MRP on packed items at Airport and Cinema Halls, special drives for deceptive packs/unfair trade practices during festive season, enforcement of ban on Service Charge, on enforcement of MRP on packed items in post GST regime and awareness of consumers are being undertaken, he added.The Minister reiterating Government’s commitment to consumer welfare said that the department intends to amend the J&K Consumer Protection Act, 1987 in order to make it more stringent and consumer friendly, besides reviewing other Acts under the ambit of the department.Later, the House passed grants amounting to Rs 48684.93 lakh for Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs department with voice vote.Earlier, several members took part in the discussion and gave valuable suggestions for further strengthening the department. They include Javid Ahmad Rana, Asgar Ali Karbalai, Neelam Langeh, Choudhary Qamar Hussain, G M Saroori, Mohammad Akbar Lone, Bashir Ahmad Dar, Jeewan Lal, Abdul Majeed Padder, Usman Abdul Majid, Mubarak Gul, Syed Farooq Andrabi, Dr Krishen Lal, Choudhary Mohammad Akram, Shah Mohammad Tantray, Altaf Ahmad Wani, Viqar Rasool, Raja Manzoor, Abdul Majid Larmi and Yawar Ahmad Mir.
HIGHLIGHTS
· 119.25 crore of state population covered under National Food Security Scheme (NFSA)
· 7407460 beneficiaries provided additional ration under Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMFSES) to supplement additional existing food supply to the consumers
· Since 2017, 324432.852Mts food grains allocated to Jammu division and 426648.228 Mts to Kashmir division under NFSA
· 288768 MTs food-grains allocated to both the divisions since 2017 under MMFSES
· 157 godowns to store food-grains procured for further distribution with intake capacity of 19733 MTs
· 74.13 lakh beneficiaries provided sugar by state out of its own resources, subsidy on sugar withdrawn by GoI with effect from April, 2017
· 80.56 % ration cards distributed so far, process underway for distribution of remaining
· Kerosene oil quota to JK declined upto 39% during 2017-18 reduced to 58476 KLs due to penetration of LPG
· Kerosene Oil likely to be phased out by April 2019 by GoI
· For bringing digital revolution in public distribution, e-PDS adopted in JK
· Under e-PDS, online allocation of food-grains, customized Supply Chain Management, installations of POS machines, Geographic Information System (GIS), constitution of Vigilance Monitoring Committees, ration cards seeding with Aadhaar, GPS trackers, Colour coding system introduced
· 1457 POS machines completely installed in 5 districts, remaining to be installed by ending Feb, 2018
· 6411 VMCs constituted across the state, 1571939 (56%) Ration Cards seeded with Aadhaar so far under e-PDS
· 4388 new FPS sanctioned, 1085 issued so far, commission charges of FPS dealers from enhanced to Rs 143 per quintal
· During 2017-18, 19046 MTs of food-grains procured from 26 Mandis established at various places
· J&K ranked No 1 in the country for successful implementation of PMUY in JK
· 360218 free LPG connections issued to the beneficiaries so far under PMUY
· JK awarded for best overall performance in Civil Supplies (Promoting Oil and Gas Conservation) (SAKSHAM) for its performance during 2017by GoI
· Department to establish 56 LPG Agencies across JK
· LMD conducted 40861 inspections, Rs 66.59 lakh realized during 2017-18 till date
· For ensuring enforcement of consumer laws, 83396 inspections conducted, fine of Rs101.06 lakh realized from 22268 defaulters
· Established Gold Testing laboratory, Food Testing laboratory, Research and Development Center, Working Standard laboratories
· JK State Consumer Protection Council, District Consumer Protection Council for every districts reconstituted
· Department planning to bring new amendments in J&K Consumer Protection Act, 1987