A meeting of Committee on Public Accounts was held today under the chairmanship of Mian Altaf Ahmad and disused functioning of the Department of Health & Medical Education.

 Ajaz Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Mohammad Yousaf Bhat, R.S Pathania, Qaiser Jamshed Lone, Mohammad Khurshid Alam, attended the meet.

The Committee sought detailed information about the management, performance, drug quality control, drug supplies, quality of equipments, besides overall development of the health infrastructure of the State.

During the meeting, officials of JKMSCL informed the Committee about the status of functioning of the corporation and of the provision of quality drug supplies.

The Committee also sought status of the Free Drug Policy being implemented in the State and availability of medical stock and supplies being provided to different Hospitals and Public Health Centers across the State.

On the occasion, Mian Altaf directed the officials of Food and Drug Control Department to regularly check the quality of drugs being sold in markets and pick up drug samples for their quality tests.

He stressed the need to improve the overall health infrastructure of the State so that quality drugs and better medical facilities are provided to the people.

Principal GMC Srinagar, Prof. Kaisar Ahmad Director Finance, Director Health Jammu, Director Health Kashmir, Managing Director JKMSCL, Managing Director NHM and Controller Drug and Food Control were also present in the meeting.

Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, Monday chaired a meeting to review the functioning of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department and implementation of Electronic Public Distribution System (ePDS) project in Jammu and Kashmir.

Appreciating the FCS&CA Department for its performance in ensuring uninterrupted supply of ration to the consumers even during the difficult prevailing situation in the Kashmir, the Chief Minister underscored the importance of PDS in ensuring availability of food-grains to the public at affordable prices, enhancing the food security and serving as a safety net for the poor.

Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, Financial Commissioner Planning and Principal Secretary to CM, B B Vyas, Secretary, FCS&CA, Shafiq Ahmed Raina, Secretary, Information Technology and Technical Education, Mohammad Saleem Shishgar, Directors, FCS &CA, Kashmir, Tasaduq Jeelani and Jammu G S Chib besides other senior officers were also present in the meeting.

During the meeting, Minister for FCS&CA presented a detailed overview of the functioning of the department. Presenting a comparative view of the old PDS and NFSA, the Minister said that under NFSA around 120 lakh souls are being covered as against only 99 lakh souls under the old system. He said close to 75 lakh souls out of the 120 lakh are provided ration at Rs 2 and Rs 3 under PHH category. The remaining 45 lakh souls are provided ration at Rs 8 and Rs 10 under non-PHH category.

The Minister further informed that after implementation of NFSA in J&K, State Government launched Mufti Muhammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMFSES) with effect from 1st July 2016 to supplement NFSA.  Under MMFSES, the State Government provides additional 5 Kg of food-grains per soul over and above the NFSA scale to BPL, PHH and NPHH subject to maximum of 35 kgs per family.

The Minister enumerated some of the major steps taken by the department for bringing transparency and streamlining the entire food-grain distribution chain including issuance of fresh ration cards, digitization of data, sanctioning of 4388 new Fair Price Shops, introduction of electronic weighing scales, linking ration tickets with Aadhaar, tracking made mandatory through GPS installed on commodities transporting vehicles, toll free helpline no 1967, vigilance and monitoring committees constituted at village level to monitor distribution of food-grains/K-oil among others, quarterly issuance of food-grains.

The Minister also highlighted that following the Chief Minister’s intervention, the department was able to take over the store from FCI at Nagrota with a storage capacity of 5000 MT after 45 years with 95 kanals of land.

The Minister also apprised the Chief Minister with regard to status of Oil products sector and various issues pertaining to the department.

The Chief Minister sought status regarding shifting of food depots from the core are of the Srinagar city to some other location on the periphery to help decongest the area.

During the meeting the Chief Minister was also given a detailed presentation on the ePDS implementation in the State by Oasys executives. It was informed that implementation of ePDS in the state will guarantee food security for the vulnerable and poor, deliver higher quality of services to citizens, accountability and traceability and entire management online.

The Chief Minister noted that manual processes related to PDS operations especially at the Fair Price Shops (FPS) level leads to diversions as it is difficult to monitor actual sale at this level in a transparent manner.

The Chief Minister observed that the solution lies in ePDS through end to end computerization so as to have complete transparency and accountability in allocation of commodities to shops and tracking distribution against allocation.

Various ePDS process models under implementation in states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh were analyzed.  It was informed FPS automation involves installation of Point of Sale (PoS) device at the FPS which will be linked with beneficiary Aadhaar number and beneficiary biometrics like finger prints. The ration beneficiaries will also be provided with a Smart Ration Card having Unique Family Code (UFC).

The Chief Minister was briefed about online transaction through Aadhaar and OTP system, offline transaction through local ePDS database, billing compliance through SMS. They also gave out details about working of public portal for beneficiaries, G2G service by web portal, Integrations of DPC, FCI, Godowns and FPS, operations and maintenance and accountability system in the state.

It was given out that PoS shall remove manual intervention in the PDS supply chain. Through these devices the entire completed transaction involving commodity, quantity and price will be electronically registered on the central server and Management Information System (MIS). The MIS will be able to generate entire information with regard to state, district, shops and customer wise details of sales, stock, allocation, card holder, transactions, complaints and feedback.

ePDS implementation will also include public mobile app and a web portal that will serve to depict number of shops, their status, view chart and transaction details through one time password (OTP)  utilization, stock status through SMS, new card and mutation facilities, and view grievance status.

It was decided that initially the system shall be implemented in 10 Fair Price Shops in the state on pilot basis.

Minister for Education, Mr Naeem Akhtar has condemned the burning of schools at various places in Kashmir during the last few days and stressed the need to tread the road of dialogue which is the only way forward.

The Minister said that the damage to schools is not just burning of an institution but a colossal loss for the entire society. He said that during the last few months Kashmir has gone through a bad phase which has given pain to everybody. “The biggest causality has been the loss of human lives which is irreparable. We cannot bring them back but we can save our future generation,” said Naeem. “We will never forget the people who died. For the good of all we have to proceed constructively and dialogue is the only way forward.”

Mr Akhtar said Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti too has repeatedly reiterated the stand of the party and the government regarding dialogue with all shades of the political opinion in J&K to pull the state out of the morass. He said that during the current turmoil people have suffered immensely on every count and PDP came with the sole agenda that such cycle of loss of life and property doesn’t occur again and again. “It was Mufti Sahebs dream to take everybody along on the road of peace, prosperity and development. He knew that the issue can be resolved only when entire country is taken along and that became the basis of the formation of current government,” said Naeem. “To achieve that long lasting peace everybody has to contribute and people from all schools of thoughts should come forwards for dialogue. Everybody has to make an effort.”

The Minister said that the dominant feature of the ruling alliance is dialogue, reconciliation apart from development. “The people of Kashmir have been the primary sufferers of the conflict for the last so many generations. We have suffered physically, intellectually, socially, economically and in every other front. It is high time that these tragic times should end. Our party has been formed with the single aim of resolution of issues,” said Naeem. “Our party is working on multiple fronts to achieve the long lasting solution of peace and prosperity with dignity.”

The Minister expressed his sadness over the losses that have been mounting during the last few months. “Our start-ups have closed, entrepreneurs have fled due to the unfortunate events. We have gone back by so many years and the sooner we realize it the sooner the better it is,” said Naeem.

A deputation from Shangus constituency of district Anantnag called on the Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti at her residence here this morning and brought to her notice their grievances, demands and developmental issues of the concerned areas.

The deputation led  by Vice Chairman, Jammu & Kashmir Khadi and Village Industries Board, Peerzada Mansoor Hussain apprised the Chief Minister of their individual and collective problems and grievances.

In their interaction with the Chief Minister the deputation presented a memorandum of demands pertaining to healthcare, road connectivity and other issues of general development in the area. For provision of better healthcare facility in the area they requested the Chief Minister to consider upgradation of PHC in Nowgam to adequately cater to the local population and also upgradation of Achabal hospital to SDH. They also flagged issues concerning road connectivity particularly between Brakpora, Kanganhal and Chattergul and issue relating to forest clearance for a road stretch at Sonach near Gujjar basti. They also demanded JK Bank branch at Dehto.

 The Chief Minister assured the deputation that the issues flagged by them would be taken up for redress at the appropriate levels in the Government.

She said the government is alive to the public demands and necessary measures are already afoot to upgrade basic amenities and ensure prompt public service delivery. Ms Mehbooba said wherever necessary additional focus would be concentrated to address the people’s demands.

JKLF chief Muhammad Yasin Malik has been admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at SKIMS Soura for specialized treatment.
Sources say that Malik has been taken to Bed no 06 in the intensive care unit SKIMS Soura. Condition of ailing Yasin Malik is stated to be stable.

Two persons who were part of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad module in Baramulla have been arrested. The militants namely Safeer Ahmad Bhat R/O Janbazpora, Baramulla and Farhaan Fayaz Liloo s/o Fayaz Ahmad Liloo R/O Jamia Mohalla Baramulla were arrested in a joint operation by Police, Army and CRPF. These individuals were part of Jaish Mohammad terror module operating in Baramulla town and adjacent areas headed by one Pakistani terrorist operating by code name Khalid. This module along with the arrested duo were involved in a terrorist attack on Army/Police convoy on August 16 this year in Khwajabagh Baramulla in which 2 Army men and one police men were killed. One AK series rifle one pistol and other arms and ammunition was recovered from their possession. Further investigation into the matter is going on.

According to a statement issued by the Zonal Police Headquarters Kashmir, no untoward incident was reported from any part of the valley today.

The statement said that with constant improvement in the situation coupled with increase in traffic and pedestrian movement in Srinagar and other main towns, the overall situation remained peaceful in the valley.

“Greater people and vehicular movement was observed in Srinagar city as was in other parts of the valley. Shops and other business establishments were open and markets were thronged by shoppers. However, a stray incident of stone pelting was reported from Brath in Sopore,” it said.