Srinagar, Sep 24: The Jammu and Kashmir government has said that beneficiaries for ration card coverage are being identified on the basis of criteria laid down under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) rules, with revised targets to be communicated by the Government of India.
The government response came in reply to a question raised by MLA Surjit Singh Salathia in Legislative Assembly regarding identification of BPL households and bifurcation of existing ration cards in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the reply, beneficiaries are being identified as per the criteria laid down in the NFSA Rules, 2021, notified vide S.O. 389 dated November 16, 2021.
The Minister in-charge said the number of beneficiaries and ration card targets are determined and assigned by the Government of India. Beneficiaries and families have been identified on the basis of data obtained from the 2011 Census.
The government said that whenever revised targets are communicated by the centre due to the inclusion of newly identified families, fresh ration cards under the relevant categories would be issued accordingly.
On the possibility of opening new Fair Price Shops (FPSs) in Jammu and Kashmir, the government said the department is examining the requirement with reference to the viability of existing shops, number of ration cards tagged with them, geographical accessibility and adequate coverage in remote and tribal areas.
It said the Government of India has also launched the Umbrella Scheme of Saksham-PDS, providing assistance for intra-state movement and handling, dealers’ margins and technology reforms under SMART-PDS. The scheme provides revised norms of central assistance towards transportation, handling and dealers’ margins to improve the economic viability of Fair Price Shops.
The government said proposals for new FPSs would accordingly be assessed on parameters including assured income, co-location of over-tagged shops and compliance with technology parameters such as ePoS, electronic weighing scales, integration and Aadhaar authentication.
On Salathia’s query regarding revival of the distribution of sugar and kerosene oil through the Public Distribution System (PDS), the government said no such proposal is under consideration of the department.
