No shortage of essential supplies in J-K, says govt

Asserting that it was fully focused on normalising the situation, the government on Thursday said that there was adequate supply of essentials including medicine, electricity, baby food, and cooking gas, adding that schools and hospitals were functioning normally in Jammu and Kashmir.

The government said 65 per cent of medical stores were open in Kashmir and specifically mentioned that medical reserve in government hospitals could last for upto six weeks.

"Hospitals and medical facilities are functioning normally. There is no shortage of medicines. All 376 notified medicines and 62 essential medicines are available in adequate quantity. No case of over-pricing of medicines, essential supplies found in more than 72 surprise checks. In Srinagar, 1165 out of 1666 chemists shops are open. In Kashmir valley, 65 per cent of the 7630 retail chemists and 4331 wholesale chemists are open," the government said in a press release.

It said that 95 per cent of healthcare professionals are on duty and more than four lakh patients have been attended for various ailments in OPDs. As many as 35,000 patients have been admitted and 11,000 surgeries have been conducted since August 5, the release said, adding that stock of baby foods could last three weeks.

The government said that it had distributed as much as 1,20,000 quintals of rice in the last three weeks, adding that a special cell with an emergency number was established to report any genuine shortage.

"Banking and ATM facilities operating normally and cash is regularly loaded so that the public do not face any difficulty. More than USD 14 million equivalent Indian rupees have been disbursed through J-K Bank ATMs alone," it said.

The release said that there was no shortage of cooking gas either and added that 8,50,000 LPG cylinders were distributed in Srinagar during the period.

Ninty-two per cent area of Jammu and Kashmir has no restriction and restrictions remain in only 11 of the total 199 police station limits during day time, it said.

The government said that 20,339 schools were functioning. "Primary and middle reopened on August 19, secondary schools reopened on August 26. Examinations in Srinagar's Government Medical College were held between September 5 to September 12 and September 24 and October 12," it stated.

"Landline telephone communication has been restored. Mobile connectivity has been restored in 13 of the 22 districts including in Kupwara and Handwara districts. Mobile connectivity is being restored in the remaining 9 districts gradually, keeping in mind the threat posed by terrorist organisations in using mobile connectivity to organise terror actions," it added.