Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday informed the Legislative Assembly that a wide network of Fair Price Shops (FPS) has been established across the Union Territory and that no area in Pampore Assembly constituency currently remains uncovered under the public distribution system.
Replying to a question by MLA Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi, Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Satish Sharma said the criteria for establishment of Fair Price Shops are governed by S.O. 41 dated January 19, 2023.
The minister informed the House that Pampore constituency has adequate coverage under the existing network of Fair Price Shops. He also shared category-wise details of ration card holders and beneficiaries in the constituency.
According to the minister, Pampore has 2,679 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration cards covering 10,163 beneficiaries, 15,470 Priority Household (PHH) ration cards covering 67,157 beneficiaries and 9,776 Non-Priority Household (NPHH) ration cards covering 40,457 beneficiaries.
Sharma said the department is examining the requirement for opening new Fair Price Shops across Jammu and Kashmir while also undertaking rationalisation of existing outlets. He said factors such as viability, number of tagged ration cards, geographical accessibility and adequate coverage in remote and tribal areas are being taken into account.
The minister further informed the House that the Government of India has launched the SARTHAK-PDS umbrella scheme, which subsumes assistance for intra-state movement, handling, FPS dealers’ margins and technology reforms under SMART-PDS.
He said the scheme provides revised norms of central assistance towards transportation, handling charges and assured income for FPS dealers, thereby improving the economic viability of Fair Price Shops.
Sharma said proposals for opening new FPS outlets would be assessed on the basis of viability under the assured income model, decongestion of over-tagged shops and compliance with technological requirements such as electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices, integration of electronic weighing scales and Aadhaar-based authentication.
Responding to a supplementary question, the minister said the government has already constituted a committee to examine relaxation of the existing criteria in areas with scattered populations.