The Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) shall be making available additional foodgrains if required by AAY & PHH Households. In a statement, the Department has apprised that PDS in Jammu & Kashmir presently provides coverage to 25.11 lac households and 98.64 lac beneficiaries. Of these, 16.64 lac households comprising 66.18 lac beneficiaries, under NFSA are eligible to receive free foodgrains every month in Jammu & Kashmir. Further, foodgrains are made available at highly affordable and subsidized cost (rice Rs.15/ kg, wheat Rs. 12/kg, & wheat flour Rs.13/kg), to nearly 8.47 lac Non-Priority Households, comprising nearly 32.46 lac beneficiaries in Jammu & Kashmir.
To further augment food requirements of Priority Households (PHH), the Government of Jammu & Kashmir is presently implementing Prime Minister’s Food Supplementation for Priority Households Scheme and providing additional 5 kg of rice each month to a member of PHH, subject to maximum of 10 kgs per household at a cost of Rs. 25/kg only, in a manner that the total entitlement of the household does not exceed 35 kgs, under all schemes. Under this scheme 13.49 lac Households are eligible. Government of Jammu & Kashmir has been procuring this rice under Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) of the Department of Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. Nearly 12400 MTs of foodgrains are required every month to cover the eligible households under this scheme.
In this scheme notified vide Government Order No: 94-JK(FCS&CA) of 2023 dated 20-07-2023, there is a provision to provide additional requirement to the AAY & PHH families at market rate, if such a demand is received from these households. It appears that this provision of the scheme has not attracted attention of the beneficiaries, as such the Department has, through an order issued today, again ordered that in case any Priority Household or AAY family needs further foodgrains from the Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, same shall be made available by the Department at the sale price that shall include actual cost of procurement of foodgrains from Food Corporation of India (FCI) under Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic)of the Department of Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, plus handling charges of the Department.