SHILLONG, March 9: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, on Tuesday, informed the Assembly on Tuesday that none of the NFSA beneficiaries in the state have been denied foodgrains over failing to enrol for Aadhaar.
“We have not received any directive from the Centre stating that people who haven’t enroled for Aadhaar are not entitled to the foodgrains allotted under NFSA. All ration card holders, even without Aadhaar, are entitled to get foodgrains under NFSA,” Tynsong said in response to the zero-hour notice called by Mawlai MLA, Process T Sawkmie during the budget session of the Assembly.
He further informed that Aadhaar enrolment, which is being looked after by the General Administration department, till date has crossed 43.38 per cent. “It is expected that very soon we will cross 50 per cent of enrolment,” the deputy chief minister said.
Informing that students are mandated to enrol themselves for Aadhaar, Tynsong said that a dedicated team has been constituted by respective deputy commissioners for students who wish to enrol themselves for Aadhaar either in the district headquarters, civil sub-division headquarters or even block headquarters.
Admitting that there could be shortage of teams for Aadhaar enrolment, the minister informed the House that the state government will ensure that the team expands so as to address the issue of manpower shortage.
Stating that no time limit or target have been set to complete the enrolment of Aadhaar in state, Tynsong, however, said, “It is an ongoing process. But I would request the citizens to get them enroled to avail benefits associated with Aadhaar”.
The deputy chief minister said that implementation of One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) is one of the top priorities of the Centre.
“The benefit of ONORC is not only restricted to migrant workers coming to the state but also those workers migrating within the state, who will be entitled to get the foodgrains under NFSA,” he said.
Replying to the question raised by the Mawlai MLA, the deputy chief minister said that the GAD has no plan to increase the number of fair price shops (FPS) in villages and localities, while informing that the FPS dealers are appointed as per the census village or locality.
Maintaining that he does not see any pressure on FPS dealers with regard to distribution, the minister said, “We will think about increasing the number of FPS dealers upon request from Dorbar Shnong or local authorities”.
Earlier, Sawkmie highlighted that section of public were unable to enroll for Aadhaar due to shortage of staff as well as non-functionality of the machines.
He, therefore, requested the government to increase the staff to ensure that Aadhaar enrollment in the state is not affected.
