58 lakh individuals get subsidised ration in J-K: Minister

Jammu and Kashmir government was providing ration at subsidised rates to more than 58 lakh individuals in the state, it informed the Legislative Assembly today.
Replying to a question, Minister for Rural Development, Law and Justice Abdul Haq said the state government was providing ration to nearly 20 lakh individuals in the Kashmir region and to about 38 lakh individuals in the Jammu region.
Haq responded to the question on behalf of Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, who was not present in the House.
He told the Assembly that more than 78,000 individuals in Noorabad constituency were receiving ration at subsidised rates under the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme.

Haq said the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution had scrapped the subsidy on sugar in April last year, but the state government decided to provide sugar at subsidised rates to priority households.
He said there was no proposal to provide sugar at subsidised rates to non-priority households.
Legislators M Y Tarigami, Raja Manzoor, Mian Altaf, B A Dar, Sheikh Abdul Rashid 'Engineer' and Pawan Gupta raised supplementary questions and complained about shortage of ration, sugar and kerosene oil in their constituencies.