Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Department Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali Tuesday said that various reformative measures are being taken by the Government to further enhance the efficiency in the Department.The Minister said this after laying the foundation stone of Research and Development (R&D) Centre cum Secondary Standard Laboratory of Legal Metrology Department at Bemina being constructed at a cost of Rs 1.75 crore.Chowdhary Zulfkar said that government is giving focused attention to infrastructure upgradation in cohesion with infusion of new technology to ensure effective and efficient functioning of the Department. He said the centre would be completed and will yield fruitful results.The Minister said that the facility will take care of almost all the samples lifted from market for checking purposes. He termed the Research and Development happening in Srinagar as a major achievement.The Minister said that the department is one among the few departments connected with the consumers 24X7 and said that people have lot of expectations from the Department and hence officials must work with more dedication to protect the rights of the consumers.
On the occasion, the Minister also reviewed status of availability of essential commodities in the valley. He was informed that there is a sufficient stock of ration including rice, LPG, Kerosene oil available in the Valley.The Minister also appreciated the department for ensuring supply of ration to the consumers during the inclement weather and directed for giving focused attention on seeding of Ration Cards with Aadhar Cards and Bank Accounts of consumers. He asked the concerned to achieve the target of covering 80 percent of ration card holders under Aadhar Seeding programme within this month.The Minister was informed that a large number of consumers have already submitted their Aadhar Card and Bank Details while as computers equipped with Broadband connections are being installed at Ration Depots for online services.Later, the Minister visited a LPG godown at Bypass and took stock of the LPG available in the valley. He was informed that around 90 thousand LPG cylinders are in transit and they will reach Srinagar once the traffic on Jammu-Srinagar highway is allowed from Jammu to Srinagar. Director FCS&CA Kashmir, Tasaduq Jeelani, DGM Housing Board, Joint Director FCS&CA, Assistant Directors and other officials were also present on the occasion.