Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 6: As many as 28 lakh new rations cards are being prepared as per the 2011 census for the rationees of the State for which the directions have already been given to the Jammu and Kashmir Bank authorities.
This was stated by the Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Choudhary Zulfkar Ali at a joint meeting of CAPD and J&K Bank authorities convened to take stock of availability of food-grains and other essential commodities in South Kashmir besides reviewing the pace of preparation of new ration cards.
The Minister asked the concerned authorities to prepare these cards in Urdu, Hindi and English languages for the convenience of consumers. He also instructed for category-wise preparation of these cards. It is pertinent to mention here that different colors are being used to identify various rationee categories which include red for APL, green for BPL, blue for AAY families, yellow for non-ration card holders and orange for Annapurana with hologram. District wise serial numbers would also be printed on the ration cards.
Expressing concern over the shortage of the staff, the Minister directed the officers to conduct Departmental Promotion Committee meeting to fill the posts under promotion quota at the earliest.
The Minister asked the concerned officers to speed up the survey being conducted by the department for identification of families under different categories so that the ration cards will be issued well in time.
He asked the officers to ensure distribution of ration upto 20th day of every month. He also instructed the concerned to ensure availability of needy items like Namkeen tea, coffee, Lipton tea and other edible items at concessional rates in all fair price shops to facilitate the deserving.
Earlier, the Minister was apprised about the stock position and the functioning of the department through a power point presentation.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary CAPD Satish Nehru, Director CAPD Kashmir, Director CAPD Jammu and other officers of CAPD and representatives of J&K Bank.
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