With the Centre making it clear that there was no intention to have any confrontation, the Supreme Court on Monday lauded the government's response on various suggestions made by the Court relating to the public distribution system (PDS) and the storing of foodgrains in godowns to prevent wastage.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during an interaction with the editors of various newspapers, expressed reservations over the Supreme Court getting into the realm of policy formulation, which, he said, should remain with the government.
During the resumed hearing of the petition filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties, a Bench comprising Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma took on record a comprehensive affidavit filed by the government.
At the outset, Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Parasaran made it clear that the “government has no intention of having any confrontation with the Court on the issue of distribution of foodgrains.”
He said the Empowered Group of Ministers discussed to consider the Supreme Court's order and had come out with various measures. He read out the details of the affidavit filed by the Centre. Additional Solicitor-General Harin Raval appeared for the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
The Bench in its order said: “We are happy to note that the Union of India, in pursuance to the suggestions of this Court, has decided to allocate to the State governments/Union Territories on ad hoc basis an additional quantity of 25 lakh tonnes of wheat/rice at BPL [Below the Poverty Line] prices for the next six months. This will be over and above 469.7 lakh tonnes already allocated under the targeted public distribution system.
“This decision of the Union of India would go a long way in providing much needed relief to the BPL population.”
‘Important steps'
It added: “In pursuance of the directions of this Court, the Union of India has also taken a number of important steps to preserve the foodgrains which has been procured by them.
“In the affidavit, it is mentioned that 12,418 tonnes of foodgrains stored in FCI godowns have got damaged as on August 1, 2010, and out of this 12,418 tonnes of good grains, the quantity of wheat is 2,689 tonnes, quantity of rice is 9647 tonnes, and quantity of paddy is 82 tonnes.”
Further, the Bench said: “It is indicated in the affidavit that the FCI is to introduce modern technology in the storage of foodgrains. We hope and trust that the suggestions given by the Court and steps taken by the Union of India would go a long way in preserving the foodgrains already procured.”
On the Court's suggestion that government must procure only that many foodgrains which could be properly preserved, the affidavit said that the Government of India “has twin objective in procuring foodgrains — (i) ensuring minimum support price to farmers and (ii) meeting the requirements of foodgrains for the public distribution system.”
The affidavit said that when markets were not very favourable, many farmers might not be able to sell their produce in the open market and that they would be left at the mercy of traders who might not pay the adequate price.
It was submitted that for a larger quantity of procured foodgrains, greater facilities of storage would be provided.
Subsidies
Without specifying whether foodgrains would be distributed free of cost, the Centre explained the subsidies granted by the government under the Antoydaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme.
It also explained that provisions had been made for the allocation of foodgrains on subsidised rates for landless agricultural labourers, marginal farmers, rural artisans/craftsmen such as potters, tanners, weavers, blacksmiths and carpenters, slum dwellers, and persons earning their livelihood on a daily basis in the informal sector, like porters, coolies, rickshaw pullers, handcart pullers, fruit and flower sellers, snake charmers, rag pickers, cobblers, destitutes and other similar categories in both rural and urban areas.
Food security law
The Centre told the Court: “The Government is actively considering enacting a law on food security. The National Advisory Council is already examining the issue of food security, including the entitlements of foodgrains, and the proposed legislation would be finalised after taking into consideration the recommendation of the National Advisory Council in consultation with the stakeholders.”
The Bench, in its order incorporating the contents of the affidavit, said: “We must place on record our appreciation for promptly giving attention to the Court's concern about the immediate distribution of the foodgrains to the population below the poverty line and preserving the already procured foodgrains.”
The Bench directed the matter to be listed on September 24.
