Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today said that Jammu and Kashmir offers a huge scope for development of oil and LPG retail sector and growth in this sector is essential for cohesive socio economic development of the state.The Minister said this while chairing a review meeting with the representatives of oil companies here today.With regards to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the minister directed oil companies to start the exercise for identification of real beneficiaries to be covered under the second phase in coordination with the district administrations. He asked for creation of a fool proof mechanism to ensure all left out women from BPL households are inducted as beneficiaries in the scheme.PMUY is a welfare scheme of Government of Indialaunched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi this year with an aim to provide 5 Crore LPG connections in the name of women from BPL households across the country. The scheme was launched in the state by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Union Minister for Petroleum Dahrmendra Pradhan on September 28.Zulfkar also reviewed the progress on shifting of oil depot from Jammu city to the safer location. He directed the oil companies to coordinate with the district administration and complete this move at the earliest.
Furthermore, he enquired about the relocating process for oil depot from Leh city to the outskirts. Expressing dissatisfaction regarding the slow pace of work, he said “Government will not compromise on the security and well being of its citizens. The concerned need to expedite the work and ensure that it is completed at the earliest”.Zulfkar also reviewed the plans for enhancement of the existing LPG bottling plant. He asked the oil companies to also prepare and submit a proposal for the establishment of bottling plants at Kargil, Anantnag and Rajouri.“These three projects are part of government’s comprehensive plan for equitable development of all regions in the state and will play an essential role in the socio economic development of these regions. Government plans to make full use of oil retail sector for state development and will explore possibilities for further projects” he added.He also asked the companies to submit their plans for future projects in the state so that better inter-agency coordination can be developed and full cooperation can be extended by the government to them.The minister said that there is still serious lack of LPG penetration in the state; especially the far off areas and to regulate these services, Zulfkar asked the oil companies to submit a penetration map for LPG, petrol pumps and also provide comprehensive list of their authorized agencies, no of active connections at each agency, details and radius of areas catering to etc.He said that the department will conduct an extensive survey in reference to the existing agencies and petrol pumps.
To increase reach, the department will thereafter propose locations for new agencies and RO outlets which will facilitate the consumer service, he added.Earlier, Zulfkar inaugurated the 5000 metric tonne capacity godown acquired back from the Food Cooperation of India (FCI). The godown located at Nagrota was given for use to the FCI in 1971 by the state government Spread over 55 kanals, Zulfkar said that this will be a huge addition to the assets to the department. He said that around 12 lakh metric tonne passes through the state godowns annually. There had been a shortage of storage capacity in the department; with the return of this godown, the department will now be able to overcome the shortage. He further said that government is working for modernization of the godowns to increase efficiency.General Manager FCI thanked the state government for extending this facility to them when needed. He assured that the other buildings in possession of FCI will soon be handed over to the department.The Minister also reviewed the progress of construction of new Directorate office complex at Ware house in Jammu. He directed the executing agency to complete the work of ground floor by the end of this year.Among others, Director FCS&CA Jammu G S Chib, Joint Director FCS&CA Mansoor Aslam Choudhary, Joint Controller LMD Jammu V S Sambyal, Deputy Controller LMD Manoj Prabhakar, representatives of oil companies and concerned senior officers were present in the meeting.