Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Aug 31: Even nearly two years after its enactment by the Parliament, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has failed to make its stand clear on implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and a committee of senior officers, which was framed to look into financial implications and implementation issues, has failed to meet the deadline set for making recommendations. Even the directions of the Division Bench of State High Court didn’t yield any positive result till date.
The National Food Security Act, which is aimed at providing food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to the people to live a life with dignity, was enacted by the Parliament in 2013 and the same received the assent of the President on September 10, 2013.
Accordingly, the Act was published in the National Gazette for the general information and the Union Government directed all the States including Jammu and Kashmir to implement the same for the benefit of the common masses.
Though large number of States including neighboring States of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh implemented the Act, the Jammu and Kashmir has yet not made its stand clear despite lapse of nearly two years since the enactment of this special piece of legislation. The failure to take decision is notwithstanding the fact that Union Government has made implementation of this Act as a condition for availing subsidized ration as per the figures of Census 2011.
Not only the previous National Conference-Congress Coalition Government even the present PDP-BJP regime has failed to make the stand of J&K clear on implementation of National Food Security Act. This can be gauged from the fact that vide Order No.1063 dated August 6, 2015, the Government constituted a High Power Committee to look into the financial implications and implementation issues of the National Food Security Act, 2013 with respect to census figures of 2011.
The Committee comprising Administrative Secretaries of Planning and Development, Finance, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution and Law Departments was also tasked to look into the entire gamut of allied activities and institutional changes that need to be put in place in the next three months for implementation of the Act.
The Committee was supposed to submit its report within a period of 15 days—by August 21 but it has failed to meet the deadline. Moreover, it is yet not clear as to when the task would be completed by the Committee and its recommendations placed before the State Cabinet for final call on the implementation of National Food Security Act in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said.
“The Committee has held deliberations on legal and financial aspects of the issue in few meetings but no consensus has yet been arrived on the implementation of the Act”, sources said while disclosing that some members of the Committee have found this Act as beneficial legislation for Jammu and Kashmir.
It is pertinent to mention here that even State High Court had last month directed the Government to make its stand clear on implementation of the Act but no consensus has been evolved on the issue till date.
According to the sources privy to the provisions of the Act, with the implementation of this legislation food will become a right and not mere entitlement in the State and on denial of the ration the people would have option to knock the doors of Grievance Cells at the district level, which would have the powers to make directions to the State Government for compensation to the rationee on denial of ration. Moreover, these Cells would have sufficient powers to initiate criminal proceedings against those denying right of ration to the people.
“If is true that implementation or non-implementation is the prerogative of the State Government but it should atleast make its stand clear and intimate the same to the Union Government as well as the State High Court”, sources stressed.
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