Srinagar: The Administrative Council (AC) which met here today under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, approved the rollout of nominee policy for Aadhar-enabled Public Distribution System (AePDS) by Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department.
The decision aims to ensure assured regular supply of food-grains to all beneficiaries as per the entitlement under National Food Security Act (NFSA) in a smooth and hassle-free manner.
The new policy will enable beneficiaries in old age, bed-ridden or those living with disabilities to nominate a responsible person after due verification to collect the quota of the subsidized ration on their behalf. Moreover, the nominee will be designated only for single/dual member ration cards where the beneficiary is a senior citizens (above 65 years)/minor (below 15 years)/bedridden/differently-abled, an official press release informed.
It said the scheme allows a beneficiary to submit a nomination form either to the Tehsil Supply Officer (TSO) or dealer or to the Assistant Director (AD) to add the nominated person to the beneficiary’s family as a nominee with zero entitlement. To avail ration, the nominee will have to visit the respective dealer and complete the KYC registration and biometric authentication.
In case of unavailability of a nominee, respective TSO will be designated as a nominee to beneficiaries requiring special assistance for delivering the requisite ration. However, the nominees will not be allowed to draw ration on behalf of other beneficiaries through the portability feature under ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme.
Over the past few months, the department has undertaken a series of reform measures to ensure food security to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir by timely and efficient distribution of food grains at highly subsidized and affordable prices through a network of 6738 outlets, the press release said.
