Srinagar: Commissioner Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA), Saurabh Bhagat, on Wednesday reviewed the functioning of the department in Kashmir and issued directions on winter stocking, e-KYC, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) implementation and facial authentication.
During a meeting at the Directorate of FCS&CA in Shaheed Gunj, Bhagat directed officials to ensure adequate stocking of essential commodities at winter zones, border points and other strategic locations to maintain uninterrupted supplies during the winter months.
He also reviewed the implementation of CBDC with Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Directors and representatives of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Punjab National Bank.
Srinagar, which has been selected as the pilot district, was asked to complete all necessary preparations, while other districts were directed to keep the required arrangements in place for an early rollout.
The Commissioner Secretary directed all Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Directors to achieve 100 per cent e-KYC by the end of November. He said the exercise was essential to authenticate beneficiaries, eliminate duplicate and ineligible entries and ensure transparency in the distribution system.
Officials were asked to intensify field-level efforts, coordinate with NIC and UIDAI and monitor progress to ensure that no eligible beneficiary was left out.
Regarding beneficiary verification, the officers were directed to finalise the list of suspected beneficiaries and complete necessary action by the end of the month.
Bhagat also asked all Assistant Directors to ensure that fair price dealers were equipped for facial authentication and directed officials to dispose of public grievances within the prescribed timeframe.
Earlier, he inspected ongoing construction of the Directorate’s new administrative block and convention centre.