Bifurcation of ration put on hold due to Centre’s ban: Satish Sharma

Jammu, Feb 20: Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Transport and Youth Services and Sports Satish Sharma on Friday informed the House that on account of cap on food grain allocation by the union government, the bifurcation of ration cards was put on hold.

“This concern has been raised by the members of this House time and again. In this regard, the department is working hard to quantify and project additional allocation demand with the Government of India so that this ban is lifted. Additionally, the department is working out a solution to meet this additional requirement out of the savings post weeding out of duplicities. I am hopeful that in the near future, we will be able to lift the embargo,” he maintained.

Sharma, who is also the Minister for Science and Technology, Information Technology, ARI and Training, was replying to the debate on the demands for grants of the departments under his charge, in the Legislative Assembly.

At the fag end of his reply, Satish Sharma created a flutter in the House stating that though the J&K government led by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was committed to eradicate the menace of drugs yet unfortunately, some leaders and cops were also involved in the drug trade.

“I’ve a list with me and we will not feel shy in naming those persons in the Assembly,” he remarked. Upon this, the BJP MLAs rose up asking him to name all those persons. This led to heated arguments between the treasury and opposition benches.

Later, Satish also claimed that one of the BJP leaders was also involved. This further agitated the BJP members who insisted on naming the person. However, Satish Sharma said, “He will reveal when he wishes so.”

The verbal spat continued for a few minutes. Later, the Speaker pacified the agitating members as Satish did not name anyone.

With regard to the Food and Civil Supplies department, the Minister, in his reply, said that J&K was among the first states and UTs to fully adopt the Government of India’s SMART Public Distribution System, implementing all core components like Ration Card Management System, Supply Chain Management System, Rightful Targeting, Mera Ration Mobile Application and Route Optimization (saving approx. Rs 2 Cr annually).

“These reforms have drastically enhanced transparency, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, ensuring food reaches every deserving household,” he emphasised.

The Minister said that presently, 16.4 lakh households comprising 67.39 lakh beneficiaries under NFSA in Jammu and Kashmir were eligible and continued to receive free food-grains every month under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). He said that households receive 35 kg of food-grains per household per month, free of cost, under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) while Priority Household (PHH) beneficiaries receive 5 kg per person per month free of cost.

“In addition, food grains are made available to Non-Priority Households (NPHH) at highly subsidized rates,” he added. The Minister said that J&K achieved 100 percent FPS automation across the UT which benefitted over 102 lakh citizens under multiple schemes.

“I want to inform the House further that we have achieved 100 percent integration of the Migrants Database with the Ration Card Management System in Kashmir Division and Integration in Jammu Division is being done in mission mode, enabling the beneficiaries avail benefits under PDS and have access to various other government welfare schemes,” he said.

“Similarly, up-gradation of PoS Machines integrated with weighing-scale using Biometric encryption and iris scanner which is the latest protocol of UIDAI is in its final stage. This will mark J&K as the first UT to shift from L0 to L1 under SMART PDS,” he emphasised.

The Minister said that as a sequel, the State Project Implementation Team (SPIT) was established under SMART PDS project to provide technical guidance and training for up-skilling of the field staff.

He said the department has commenced the provision of additional food-grains under SAAY, free of cost, to all eligible AAY beneficiaries with effect from April 2025 onwards.

“Creation of new ration cards is to be initiated after April 1, 2026. This requires 100 percent e-KYC in NFSA and non-NFSA ration cards and cleansing of the database through deletion of fake and bogus ration cards which is in the advanced stage. This will save food-grains and the same can be allocated for creation of new and bifurcation of ration cards. In order to enhance FPS viability, the existing FPs are to be rationalized. The process shall be completed shortly, in close coordination with the MLAs giving due consideration to the underlying norms,” the Minister informed.

Satish Sharma said that the department also intends to introduce distribution of pulses, oil, millets and other commodities in FPS through NAFED and FPOS to ensure availability of quality items at Fair Price thereby enhancing earnings to FPS dealers.

“A digital platform, e-Jagriti, has been launched in January 2025 streamlining consumer dispute redress,” he said. Referring to the initiatives to be initiated under SASCI, he said an amount of Rs 4 Cr was allocated to modernise infrastructure and make the Legal Metrology Department more vibrant. “This includes deployment of 20 mobile laboratory-fitted vehicles to reinforce market surveillance and consumer safety,” he maintained.

The Minister said that the Petroleum Infrastructure is being augmented across J&K for ensuring energy security.

Referring to Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana-2.0 (PMUY), the Minister said that left over eligible women would be provided with LPG connections free of cost, which was over and above the existing 35 lakh connection in the UT.

“As a part of the new initiative, Jammu and Kashmir plans to establish a State Food Commission, which shall act as an ombudsman for effective NFSA implementation. For effective last-mile delivery, new fair price shops and sales centres are being planned in remote, border and difficult areas,” Sharma announced.

With regard to the ARI and Trainings department, he said that the department launched a single- window online portal for processing Recruitment Rules and introduced the online NDC system in the current year. “These game-changing digital initiatives have drastically reduced the physical interface, minimised paperwork and accelerated the processing time, thereby enhancing efficiency and transparency,” he maintained.

“Operating in a mission-oriented framework, the Department is driving systemic change by conducting regular administrative inspections. These inspections aim to identify the procedural delays, eliminate redundant requirements, and remove bottlenecks that hinder effective service delivery”, the Minister added.

The Minister also said that in the upcoming financial year, the department of ARI and Trainings would focus on driving administrative reforms and strengthening governance through key priorities like institutional capacity building through targeted training programs to enhance skills and competencies, accelerate digitization initiatives to modernize processes besides undertaking re-engineering to improve efficiency and responsiveness.

“Reforms are also underway to simplify rules, adopt outcome-oriented practices, and foster innovation in governance, improving service delivery. The constitution of J&K Administrative Reforms Commission to translate the Department’s vision into actionable reforms and provide strategic direction for long-term administrative transformation is also underway,” he added.

Satish Sharma shared that in the coming financial year, the IT department would adopt an outcome-oriented and future-ready digital governance model, guided by the principles of Line to Online, Queue to QR, Ask Only Once, My Data, Secure by Design and Privacy by Default. “The Digital J&K vision shall continue to be implemented in a phased manner, following the principle of Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast,” he maintained.

The Minister said, “The IT department proposes to implement several transformative initiatives in 2026–27 to strengthen digital infrastructure. These included establishment of IT Parks in Jammu and Srinagar, augmentation of State Data Center (SDC).”

“To enhance vehicle safety and protect the environment, we are moving from manual inspections to technology-driven fitness testing. Electronic evaluation of brakes, suspension and emissions is now under implementation” he added.

Satish Sharma informed the house that the vehicle scrapping policy was notified, applications for modern scrapping centres in Jammu, Samba and Kathua were under process, ensuring old polluting vehicles were systematically phased out.

Referring to traffic enforcement and safety, the Minister said that installation of Electronic Enforcement Devices (EEDs) at key locations was underway.

“We plan to introduce an inter-district transport fleet under the OPEX model, replacing aging diesel fleets with zero-emission vehicles,” he emphasised.

Regarding demand of providing RTC bus service on various routes, he said that, in this regard, the Chief Minister already informed this House that 200 new buses were being added to the existing fleet, to be utilised strictly as per the demands raised and requirement in various areas across J&K.

Under SASCI, the department was procuring 50 new trucks to augment the aging-fleet of JKRTC trucks, the Minister said. With regard to persistent demand of JKRTC workforce for implementation of 7th Pay Commission and regularisation of services of consolidated staff, Satish Sharma informed that a Committee was constituted recently to examine the demands and furnish its recommendations.

“Once these are received, the same shall be placed before the Board of Directors of the Corporation for addressing the long pending issue,” he said.

“In line with the national target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, JAKEDA is integrating renewable energy into governance and daily life,” he maintained.

“The Jammu and Kashmir Science, Technology and Innovation Council (JKSTIC) is the backbone of our efforts to promote science, research and innovation. Regional Science Centre, Srinagar, developed at a cost of Rs 182 Cr, is nearing completion this year,” the Minister added.

With regard to sports, Satish Sharma, while enlisting achievements of the department, informed that during the current financial year, a total of 60.85 lakh youth were engaged in various sports activities, of which, 24.45 lakh were covered through J&K Sports Council and 36.40 lakh through the directorate of Youth Services & Sports.

“With the objective of achieving the status of “Sports Capital of the country, the department will be prioritising major infrastructure projects. Operationalization of Cricket Academies at Srinagar, Udhampur, Anantnag and Jammu besides creation of new four Academies in Ganderbal, Baramulla, Shopian, Poonch, Doda and Samba has also been undertaken,” informed the Minister.

“The long pending selection process of outstanding sports persons has finally been completed and a provisional selection list has been issued. Formal appointment orders shall be issued after examining the representations sought,” the Minister reiterated. He said that the department was working on the modalities for regularization of Rehbar-i-Khel candidates. “The process has been fast-tracked so that regularization orders are issued as per the scheme in the shortest possible time,” he announced.

Abdul Majeed Bhat (Larmi), Mir Saifullah, Balwant Singh Mankotia, Hasnain Masoodi, Iftikar Ahmad, Rajiv Kumar Bhagat, Satish Kumar, Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurezi), Altaf Ahmad Wani, Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi, Narinder Singh,  Salman Sagar, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, Dr. Sajad Shafi, Qaysar Jamshaid Lone, Vikram Randhawa, Kursheed Ahmad Sheikh, Choudhary Mohammad Akram, Pirzada Farooq Ahmad Shah, Shakti Raj Parihar, Vijay Kumar, Dr. Mohammad Shafi Wani, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Mir,  Devyani Rana, Shabir Ahmad Kullay, Hilal Akbar Lone, Irshad Rasool Kar, Mohan Lal Bhagat, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Javid Hassan Baig, Kuldeep Raj Dubey and Irfan Hafiz Lone participated in the discussion over Grants.

Later, the House passed Rs 7,462.91 lakh grants for Information Technology (IT), Rs 54,389.17 lakh for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA), Rs 3,798.68 lakh for ARI and Training, Rs 12,646.11 lakh for Transport, Rs 68,009.76 lakh for Youth Services and Sports (YSS) and Rs 18,972.06 lakh for Science and Technology (S&T) Department after the members withdrew their cut motions following the Minister’s assurance to address their issues.