Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Satish Sharma today informed the House that Public Distribution System (PDS) in Jammu and Kashmir is being governed by the National Food Security Act of the Government of India and JK TPDS (Control) Order as amended from time to time.
The Minister stated this while replying to a question of Legislator Payare Lal Sharma in the House. He added that the Chullah Parchis is not a valid document for issuance of ration cards under the provisions of National Food Security Act.
The Minister further said that there is a well established criteria being adopted by the department in verifying the beneficiaries under PDS. There is no active proposal for considering ‘Chulla Parchis’ holders, a revenue document, for providing ration cards, he added.
He said PDS relies on 2011 census data, with no census conducted since. The FCS&CA department is verifying the beneficiaries and households for their inclusion in the PDS as per the criteria notified vide S O 389 in November 2021. It has included the eligible beneficiaries, including bonafide Chullah Parchi holders, in the PDS database.
The Minister, while replying to the supplementary, said that whenever revised targets are communicated by the Government of India on account of inclusion of newly identified families, fresh ration cards under the relevant categories shall be issued accordingly.