Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today rolled out the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMSFES) to supplement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and ensure adequate food safety under targeted publicdistribution system.
The food security scheme devised to supplement the requirement of additional foodgrains of the people was launched at the Sher-e-Kahmir International Conference Centre (SKICC).
The scheme was simultaneously rolled out in Jammu by Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh in the presence of Legislative Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta.
The decision to bring in this food security scheme was taken by the Cabinet, headed by Mehbooba, in its first meeting on April 11 this year.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the new scheme would guarantee food to the people, especially the underprivileged sections of society, through a proper public distribution system. “The scheme will effectively address the food needs of the people. It was a challenging task but we did it and now the onus lies on the government functionaries for effective and rightful implementation of the scheme,” she said. Mehbooba expressed hope that the scheme would do well as it had been launched on an auspicious day in the holy month of Ramazan.
She said under the new food scheme, all those families falling under Priority Households (PHH) and Non-Priority Households (NPHH) would get additional foodgrains over and above the NFSA entitlement at a uniform scale of five kilogrammes per person per ration card except for Antyodaya Anna Yojana families who are otherwise entitled to receive 35-kg ration per family irrespective of the family size. “As many as 85,85,693 persons comprising 21,72,585 families would be given assured foodgrains under the MMSFES,” she said.
She added that under the NFSA, the government was already providing highly subsidised rationto 119.13 lakh people against 99 lakh people under the old public distribution system.
Mehbooba Mufti rolls out new food security scheme
