Srinagar residents protest against curtailment of ration quota in Kashmir

The residents of Mehjoor Nagar in Srinagar staged a protest against the curtailment of ration supplies to the Kashmir valley.

Locals told The Kashmiriyat that on Monday morning, people hit to roads in the Mehjoor Nagar area of Srinagar and blocked the traffic raising slogans demanding ration.

In January 2021, The Government curtailed the rice and wheat quota for Kashmir Valley. Over 120371.62 quintals of food grains (rice and wheat) were curtailed.

Officials, back then, said under National Food Security Act (NFSA), the Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Kashmir had allocated 210849.89 quintals of food grains for the month of January 2021. In October 2020, 331221.51 quintals of food grains had been allocated for Valley.

“This is a deficit of 120371.62 quintals of food grains and it is a huge margin that will affect people badly,” an official had said.

Director FCS&CA Dr. Abdul Salam Mir in October told the news agency, KNO that the scheme launched by the government to provide additional ration to the consumers has been stopped, but all the consumers are getting 5 kgs of ration per person every month normally as there has been no reduction in the allotted quota.

“We are being provided either 3 KGs to 5 KGs of rice per person for a month, which is insufficient to meet the needs of Kashmiri families, where rice is the staple food,” a protester said, adding that the allotted quota was insufficient and is now declining further.

They said that the locals are already suffering due to water and power shortages, inflation and unemployment, and the admin has added to their woes as only a 4kg ration is available for one consumer at a ration depot.

The locals claimed that the government has already stopped additional 35 kilograms of rice and flour to the people.