Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Choudhary Zulfkar Ali today said that the Government is working on strengthening Legal Metrology Department (LMD), and in this regard Rs 6.5 crore have been provided Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board (J&KHB) to build infrastructure for LMD.Speaking during a review meeting, the Minister said the present dispensation sees Legal Metrology Department as an important part of FCS&CA, and would take every possible step to strengthen it. He said releasing Rs 6.5 crore for infrastructure development is a step in this direction.Giving the breakup of the funds, the Minister said that for the construction of Controller Office in Jammu Rs 1 crore has been earmarked, for Research and Development Centre in Kashmir Rs 1 crore has been released, while for establishing Advance Digital Standard Secondary Laboratories, one for Jammu and one for Kashmir, Rs 1.5 crore have been released. For strengthening district laboratories in the first phase, six laboratories in Akhnoor, Kathua, Ramban, Bandipora, Kupwara, and Kargil at the cost of Rs 50 lakh each has been released to the Housing Board, the Minister said.During the meeting, the Minister nominated Deputy Controller LMD, Manoj Prabhakar as nodal officer who would liaison with Housing Department for the construction work.The Minister asked the Managing Director, Housing Board for renovation work of FCS&CA in Kashmir.
The Minister said the building holds a historical significance therefore, it is important that it is preserved in its true sense. Besides, he said the building’s city centric location makes it an attraction for the tourists as it gives them a glimpse of our archaic constructions. He instructed the concerned officers to ensure that aesthetics of the building is maintained while doing the renovation work.Expressing satisfaction over the work done by the J&K Housing Board in the past, the Minister said the department is hopeful that the construction agency would live up to its full potential and would complete all the under process construction work within the set time frame. The Minister asked the concerned agency to expedite the completion of construction work of Directorate of FCS&CA Jammu building at Ware House. He said he is optimistic that the construction work of ground floor of the building would be completed by the end of March so that the Directorate of FCS&CA would shift there.Managing Director, J&K Housing Board Vipra Bahal, Director FCS&CA, Jammu G S Chib, Director FSC&CA Kashmir Tassuduq Jeelani, Additonal Secretary Ramesh Kumar, Financial Advisor, FSC&CA Zia Qazi, Deputy Secretary, FCS&CA, Arun Kotwal along with other officers attended the meeting.