The National Food Security Act (NFSA) has been implemented across all 22 districts of the state from March 1 after missing two deadlines. Of the ration allocated for February, 75 per cent has been distributed in Kashmir and nearly 50 per cent in the Jammu division.
Under the new law, 29 lakh ration card holders — 9 lakh higher than the previous system, and 1.25 crore individuals — 22 lakh more than the previously registered number, will benefit from availability of ration at highly subsidised rates.
However, some residents of the region who have been part of protests against the NFSA, believe that the earlier law, according to which 35-kg foodgrain was given to a family at a subsidised rate irrespective of size was better than the new Act.
“We are poor and they give us 5-kg rice per person. What will we do with it? It is injustice against Kashmiris,” said a resident of Srinagar’s Ram Bagh locality during a protest last month.
Demonstrations against implementation of the NFSA had been supported by the National Conference (NC), which was governing the state in alliance with the Congress and was a part of the UPA government at the Centre when the Act was passed in 2013.
Protests against the NFSA in the region began in December last year and subsided after a few days. The protests resumed this month, coinciding with the raking up of the issue by senior NC leaders, some of whom termed the Act as an atrocity on people.
The NC attempted to turn implementation of the Act into an emotive issue, describing the law as ‘not only unjust but also inhuman’ as it campaigned to win back its lost support base by resorting to overt populism.
A protest was organised in the remote Karnah area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district last Saturday when residents marched towards the sleepy Teetwal village, nestled along a stream serving as the Line of Control (LoC).
The protesters in Karnah, which had seen only a few protests in decades, attempted to cross the LoC to demonstrate against implementation of the NFSA and described it as ‘sheer injustice’.
Their march was the latest in a series of sporadic demonstrations that had taken place at several places in Kashmir, including Srinagar, this year against the NFSA’s implementation.
A senior government official who had been overseeing implementation of the new law in the state, described the Act as ‘very egalitarian’.
“It is a very egalitarian act where everyone gets exactly 5 kg. If you have four members in the family, you get 20 kg. If you have 20 members in the family, you get 100 kg,” said Saurabh Bhagat, Secretary, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department.
He said the price of ration under the previous scheme was Rs 10 per kg while the new subsidised rate was Rs 3 per kg for rice and Rs 2 per kg for flour. “It is a good and very beautiful Act. It is for the common man,” he said.
Bhagat claimed that protests against implementation of the NFSA had been orchestrated by ‘corrupt elements’ who benefited from the old scheme and had been hurt by the new law.
“There is a deliberate propaganda by dealers who are losing. There is a particular vested group which is losing out without black marketing of ration,” he said.
Despite protests, govt implements food Act
