The SC bench asked the Centre to take steps for making the PDS network system computerised so that corruption is eliminated.
The Supreme Court has expressed its concern over unabated starvation deaths in the country and asked the Union and state governments to ensure that no on should die due to hunger.
It is the responsibility of the government to provide food to the poor the court observed on Wednesday and asked all states to specify how much additional foodgrains under public distribution system (PDS) are needed to meet the objective.
A bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma also asked the Centre to take steps for the making the entire PDS network system computerised so that corruption and pilferage are eliminated.
“No one should die of starvation and malnutrition in poor districts. We direct chief secretaries of all states to indicate within two weeks how much additional foodgrains are required,” judges said while hearing a PIL filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberty (PUCL) seeking a direction to the Centre and the states to streamline food distribution system among the poor starving millions.
At an earlier hearing in this PIL, judges had expressed their anguish at the increasing number of deaths due to starvation and warned the government against dividing India into two sections — one for the elite and the other for the impoverished.
The top court reminded the governance of its claim of being an economically strong nation and had asked Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the planning commission, to file an affidavit explaining the per capita daily income for the BPL category. Currently, it is Rs20 in urban areas and Rs11 in rural areas.
“You can’t have two Indians. What is this stark contradiction in our whole approach in eradication of malnutrition? You say you are a powerful country but at the same time, starvation deaths are taking place in various parts of the country,” the bench had observed.
Coinciding with the Wednesday hearing, the Centre also sought public comments on the draft National Food Security Bill, which seeks to provide a legal entitlement to subsidised food grains to 75% of the country’s rural population and 50% of urban India.
Currently, the government provides 35 kg of foodgrains per month to 6.52 crore BPL families and at least 15 kg of wheat and rice to 11.5 crore APL families through ration shops.
Wheat and rice are supplied to BPL families at Rs4.15/kg and Rs5.65/kg, respectively.
However, the APL families get the foodgrain at a little higher, at Rs6.10 per kg of wheat and Rs8.30 per kg of rice.
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