By Amit Khurana, AIP,
Jammu: The PDP on Thursday staged a walkout amidst pandemonium from the state Assembly as it slammed the Jammu and Kashmir government for shortage of food supplies.
The PDP members stood from their chairs and resorted to sloganeering and alleged that the government has failed to convene Centre enhancement of the ration resulting in huge shortage of the supplies.
PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti also alleged that there have been shortage of ration items and huge complaints regarding bungling in Below Poverty Lines (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL) ration quotas in the state.
Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Qamar Ali Akhoon said the Centre has projected 99.45 lakh population of the state in the year 2000 with 18.02 lakh ration ticket per average household.
It has allocated 63,067 metric tonnes of foodgrain at the scale of 35 kg of rice, wheat per family per month, thus 18.02 lakh ration ticket as per household has been distributed, he said, adding the Centre’s allocation is about 47.78 percent short of the total requirements.
“The matter was raised several times with the central government and is awaiting approval and enhancement”, he said.
Akhoon said till date 1.58 ration tickets, which has not been allocated by the Centre, have been distributed by state government increasing the number of ticket holders to 19.60 lakh in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister admitted that there have been complaints of bungling in BPL and APL ration and a committee has been constituted in each districts for reverification of BPL and APL populations.
The Assembly witnessed noisy and uproarious scenes which were followed by the walkout by the opposition PDP members.