SRINAGAR: Amid attack on National Food Security Act by opposition and separatists, Jammu and Kashmir government today hinted at reviewing implementation of the legislation, saying said it is “not a word of God or a religious book which cannot be changed”.
The state government assured people that there would be no reduction in the scale of rations because of the Act under which each person of a BPL family is entitled to only 5 kgs of ration per month at subsidised rates.
“We should not have let it (the law) become so controversial. But unfortunately, it has become controversial. We will consider reviewing the scale of giving 5 kgs of ration per person per month and I assure the people that we will not reduce the scale (of allocation),” Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Chowdhary Zulfiqar Ali told reporters here.
Ali said the department was collecting the data of the population on the basis of which a policy will be made and a reasonable ration scale would be maintained in the state keeping in view the circumstances here.
“We are collecting the information and making a data bank on the basis of which we will make a policy. There is no streamlined system as of now, we are trying to streamline the system,” he said.
“This legislation is not a word of God or a religious book which cannot be changed,” the Minister said, adding “We will not let shortage of rations happen” and “It is our responsibility to provide ration to the people.”
He said the data was gathered in 2012 but the department has not finalized that. “We have sent it (the department) back to the public (for recollection of the data) for correction,” he said.
His comments came against the backdrop of attack on Food Security Act by opposition National Conference and separatist Hurriyat Conference which have said that people of Kashmir will be deprived of adequate foodgrains since rice is the staple food in the valley.
Referring to the threat of an agitation by separatist groups, the minister said the Act is for the welfare of the people and “I do not think any organization will launch any agitation on it. There is no need to protest.”
He said it was the previous National Conference (NC)-Congress government during which the Cabinet decided to implement the Act in the state.
“In 2011, the then government took a cabinet decision, by virtue of which they requested the government of India to implement the NFSA in Jammu and Kashmir.
” But the NC government failed to implement the Act since they were not able to provide the ration as per the 2011 census. We are implementing it with an additional support of 45 lakhs to cover all the people,” Ali said.
The minister said the department would look into the discrepancies of data collection and release the payment for the same only after correct data is submitted. “Definitely, we will inquire into it. We will release their payment only when they re-submit the corrected forms,” he said.
The minister was speaking on the sidelines of a function after declaring 100 per cent automation of all Indian Oil petrol pumps in Srinagar – the first city in the state to have full automation.
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