When Food Security Act was enacted by the Parliament, the NC-Congress Coalition Government decided against its implementation in the State. It had its own reasons though all other states welcomed it. Late Mufti Sayeed-led Coalition Government reconsidered the decision of his predecessor and decided to implement the Act in its entirety in the State. This decision generated warm reception among the poor and deprived sections of people especially the BPL segment. In the past there had been many protestations by the people in remote and rural areas of the State for shortage of food and other necessary supplies. The CAPD is the channel through which distribution of food is made in the State. The minister in the previous Coalition Government, Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali was in charge of CAPD. Shortly before the demise of Mufti Sayeed, he had planned digitalization of entire rationing system and was personally monitoring its work. He had initiated a new scheme aimed at computerization of entire distribution system which also aimed at monitoring the distribution. Now that the elected Government stands dissolved, Zulfikar has spoken of several lapses in the database generated for implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA) in Jammu and Kashmir. He has sought Governor’s intervention for necessary rectification before issuance of ration cards in order to ensure smooth implementation of NFSA. He has come to know that APL category continued to be in the database while, according to his contention, this category needs to be abolished and beneficiaries under this category need to be categorized under the relevant field. In certain cases, the numbers of souls have gone beyond the census 2011 population of the districts.
We welcome the interest shown by the ex-Minister in preparing the correct record. However, entries need to be verified and the actual situation revealed. As such, we endorse the view that the Governor should ask the concerned officers to examine the complaint of the ex-Minister and rectify the error if it has happened. It is very easy for the concerned to find out what actually the position is. In his communication to the Governor, the ex-Minister has raised many questions about the correctness of the entries made in the data base. He claims that grave errors have crept into it. How ration cards could be issued to over 22 lakh people in just ten days, he has asked. Moreover, he has questioned how the population of the State is shown 1.31 crore against actual 1.25 crore as per the Census of 2011. These and other irritating questions need to be answered in public interest and we hope the administration will come out with facts and figures for the information of general public.
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