Jammu, Sep 3 (PTI) Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey on Saturday instructed the Food and Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs department to encourage local procurement of food grains.
Pandey during a review meeting suggested that the department should promote procuring food grains from local farmers through the Food Corporation of India for further distribution, an official spokesperson said.
“It would empower the farmers and reduce the cost of transportation and distribution thereby benefiting the community,” he said.
Pandey, who was on a two-day visit to J & K, was briefed by Commissioner Secretary FCS&CA, Zubair Ahmad about the efforts in making the Public Distribution System transparent, credible and dependable.
Ahmad said e-POS machines have been installed at all 6,735 sale outlets across J&K and 100 per cent Aadhaar seeding has been achieved at all levels in PDS, while J&K stands 9th in the country in terms of number of transactions made so far under ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme. He said over one million bogus and duplicate beneficiaries have been removed from the records.
Earlier, Pandey visited several fair price shops at Jammu and at Katra, the base camp for pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi to inspect their setup and facilities.
Highlighting the need to dispel doubts regarding fortified food grains, the Secretary directed the officers to organise awareness campaigns.
“The grains have been fortified to provide essential nutrients to the consumers and the same message must be delivered effectively,” he said. PTI TAS MR
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Encourage local procurement of food grains Union Secretary to J K
