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| KPs stage mass protest against NFSA, demand rollback | | *Relief holders divided on NPHH, PHH scheme | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, May 6: In order to roll back the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and continue the disbursement of ration as per previous scale, the Kashmiri Pandit migrant community staged an en-masse protest outside the office of Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner for Migrants at Canal Road Jammu here today.
Hundreds of displaced families, including men, women, and elderly, assembled at the Canal Road complex this morning and raised slogans against the integration of migrant ration cards into the NFSA database. The protesters demanded immediate rollback of the scheme and restoration of the old system of relief and ration distribution.
The protest was spearheaded by Jammu Migrants Welfare Movement (JMWM) supported by other K P prominent organizations. Addressing the gathering, JMWM Convener and social activist Sunil Pandita alleged that the NFSA move will disintegrate the displaced community by diluting its unique identity.
NFSA will disintegrate our community because KP community has been already falling in displaced status for the last over 36 years where as by the implementation of NFSA,it has divided the community relief holders in particular by Non priority Household(NPHH) and Priority Household (PHH)scheme,he said, adding that Men at the helms have always been against migrants' interests for one reason or the other. Those dependent on cash assistance cannot mitigate daily problems but NFSA authorities have intentions to divide the relief holders further which will be a dent on their livelihood, so forcing NFSA on us is an exercise in futile, Sunil maintained.We demand one time permanent Rehabilitation, till then restoration of old pattern of distribution of ration with enhanced monthly cash assistance, Our displacement status cannot be clubbed with general NPHH or PHH categories," he added.
The integration drive has left relief holders divided. Under NFSA, ration cards are being categorized into Priority Household (PHH) and Non-Priority Household (NPHH), with different entitlements,which is a cruel joke with the Kashmiri migrants. Therefore, NFSA rollback becomes compulsory.
It is pertinent to mention here that Relief & Rehabilitation Commissioner (M) Dr Arvind Karwani has repeatedly termed claims that NFSA integration would end migrant status or benefits as "baseless and misleading". A Government Order dated 16.05.2025 clarified that the existing scale of ration distribution and norms for relief category card holders "shall continue".Despite the assurances by the RRC situation on ground is quite opposite.
The protest concluded peacefully after the submission of a memorandum to the Relief Commissioner's office. Heavy police deployment was made to prevent any untoward incident.
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