Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) and Tribal Affairs, Choudhary Zulfkar Ali said that the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMSFES), introduced by the government to provide additional food grains to the beneficiaries under NFSA, has proved to be a boon for 79 lakh souls in the state.The Minister said this during a review meeting held with the senior functionaries of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) department, here today.The Minister took a detailed review of the district wise status of stock and supply position, allocation, lifting and distribution of food grains. He asked the FCS & CA functionaries to ensure that the consumers get essential commodities as per the entitled quota within the fixed timelines.Zulfkar also reviewed the progress on implementation of NFSA and MMSFE schemes and emphasized for close coordination and collective efforts to carry forward the initiative of providing access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices. He asked the officers to monitor the availability and distribution of food grains and submit the physical report in detail to his office on monthly basis.
Zulfkar also reviewed the status of distribution of new ration cards and directed the officers to complete the allotment of the remaining in a time bound manner.The Minister directed for constitution of a committee to make recommendations to the administrative department pertaining to allocation of food grains, amount paid under NFSA besides verifying the details of allocation, requirements, distribution and lifting under MMSFES.
The meeting was informed that in Kashmir division, 3,37,000 quintal rice is being distributed every month under NFSA and around 68.10 lakh souls in the division are being benefited under the scheme with distribution of rice and wheat at Rs 3 per Kg under PHH category and at Rs 15 per kg and Rs 13 per Kg under NPHH whereas population of 41 lakh are getting rice at Rs 15 per Kg under MMSFES. “Any negligence in maintaining records would not be tolerated and strict action will be taken against the erring officials”, the Minister exhorted.Regarding compliance to early directions, the Minister also sought the status of issuance of ration cards to the nomadic people.The Minister instructed the officials of SRTC to provide adequate transportation with GPS installation along with colour coding to easily identify the food carrying vehicle.Commissioner Secretary FCS&CA, Mehraj-ud-Din Khan,Director FCS&CA, Kashmir, Nisar Ahmad Wani, Director FCS&CA, Jammu, Ch Rashid Azam Inquilabi besides other senior functionaries of the department were present in the meeting.