Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday announced the distribution of free ration to migrants from April 18 across designated ration depots in the Union territory.
According to the Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, the ration distribution will be carried out under a special scheme for migrants in both Kashmir and Jammu divisions as notified by the government on March 5.
“All relief ration card holders, irrespective of their categorisation into priority household, non-priority household or special category, will continue to receive 11 kg of free ration per person per month along with 1 kg of sugar as per the existing scale”, Relief Commissioner Arvind Karwani said.
Individuals registered with the relief department under the non-relief category, such as pensioners and classified under non-priority households, will receive ration at government-approved rates as per their entitlement under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the official said.
The government has already made necessary amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Food Security Rules, 2021, and the Targeted Public Distribution System (Control) Order, to integrate migrant ration cards with the NFSA database.
“This integration enables migrants to avail benefits under various government welfare schemes,” the relief commissioner said.
Karwani also said that according to the government order, the existing scale of ration distribution and procedures related to inclusion, deletion, bifurcation, conversion and corrections in ration cards will continue as per the norms of the relief department.
The department has also issued multiple public notices and awareness jingles to inform the beneficiaries about the scheme.
The scheme will be launched formally in Jammu at 11 am on April 18.