CAPD unable to provide free ration to flood-hit families
DCs have not submitted list of affected families to the dept
The Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department is unable to provide free ration to many flood-hit families across the Valley as Deputy Commissioners (DCs) have not submitted list of the affected families to the department so far.
According to CAPD officials, the delay in submission of list of flood-hit families by DCs has badly hit the distribution of free ration of 35 Kg to each family. The government has announced free ration for six-months to the flood-affected people in the Valley.
They said officials have brought the matter to the notice of CAPDD Minister Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzan.
“The DCs are in a better position to inform us about the families, who have been affected due to floods based on the household list lying with them,” said a senior government official.
Based on the records available with DCs, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah has directed that those families, who have lost their ration cards, should be given the documents by holding special camps.
The CAPDD officials said since most of the families are not producing ration cards to get free relief, the household list maintained by DCs could help identify the people, who have been affected by the floods.
The government had earlier decided to post at least two officials of other departments at different districts particularly in worst-hit Srinagar to register any complaints of fraud in the distribution of free ration.
“However we are facing difficulties to distribute the ration as we don’t have any list of families affected by the floods,” said a senior government official.
He said CAPDD has no mechanism to ascertain whether the people, who are coming to ration depots, are actually eligible for the free ration. “We will have to rely on revenue records”.
“Our staff is constantly facing the public ire. But how can we ensure transparency in distribution of ration till we don’t have list of flood affected people? We lost a large stock of food grains in the floods and the government has issued orders that the damaged food grains need to be tested to check whether it is fit for human consumption,” the official said.
The preliminary assessment, he said, has shown that the stocks are not fit for consumption.
Director CAPDD, Bilal Ahmad, said the department has been facing difficulty in getting the list of flood-hit people in Srinagar.
“We have taken up the matter with the concerned authorities,” he said.
