INS Special corresponded Suhail Punjabi caught up with Consumer affairs Minister Choudhary Zulfikar Ali and had a quick chat with him.
INS: People are skeptic about the Petrol pumps, thinking that they are duping them, like that of happened in Uttar Pradesh. And people also alleged that some petrol pumps in Srinagar are tampering with the machine?
ZA: The case of tampering with the machine was found in Uttar Pradesh and soon after that the petroleum ministry ordered to have country wide check and same was conducted in the Jammu and Kashmir.
We did not find any such case of tampering and duping of customers by petrol pump owners in the state and such cases are rumors, people should not pay heed to them. However if there are suspicious activities happening, as you are saying, will ask the legal meteorology department to check on it and make an inquiry into the petrol pumps.
INS: Above Poverty Line, APL, ration card holders are asking that the subsidy has been, cancelled how to go about it?
ZA: The subsidized sugar quota which was being distributed by the government has been cancelled by the central government April 2012 for APL and
Below Poverty Line BPL ration card holders , so you will not find any state distributing subsidized sugar to people.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in the country which retained to distribute subsidized sugar, only to BPL category.
The decision was made by the state government and state bears the cost of it. So, it is the central government’s decision for all the states, but only we retained to distribute subsidized it for BPL category.
INS: With Darbar move employees shift from Kashmir to Jammu or from jammu to Srinagar, they cant have two ration cards for six months how are you sorting that issue?
ZA: They have to submit a surrender certificate to get ration, now we are planning to have special camps for such employees who have to move with the darbar move, specially secretariat employees and others too. We will give them authority letters so that they can collect the ration from the place of shifting.
This will ease the burden and will resolve the issue quickly; otherwise it takes a bit time.
