The Madras High Court on Friday relaxed an order it passed on Wednesday imposing restrictions on the distribution of ₹1,000 as Pongal cash gift to ration cardholders.
The relaxation will permit disbursal of the money to around 10 lakh ration cardholders who purchase sugar in lieu of rice, apart from the more than 1.85 crore cardholders who are already eligible for the benefit.
The cash gift would be denied only to around 40,000 people who possess ration cards only as a proof of identity and not for purchasing any commodity through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and P. Rajamanickam relaxed their previous order at the request of Advocate General Vijay Narayan and Additional Government Pleader E. Manohar.
Since it was represented by the law officers that many middle class and Below Poverty Line families had been purchasing sugar in lieu of rice from PDS shops and that the government had already disbursed the cash gift to 4,12,588 out of 10,11,330 cardholders who purchase sugar, the judges permitted disbursal of the money to the remaining 5,98,742 cardholders too. The relaxation petition had been filed by Food Secretary Dayanand Kataria.
‘Not much difference’
Explaining the issue in detail, the Advocate General told the court that there was not much of a difference between the over 90 lakh Non Priority Household ration cardholders who purchase all commodities, including rice, and the 10 lakh NPHH cardholders, who also purchase all commodities but choose to buy additional sugar instead of rice. He also explained the reason why some people had chosen to purchase sugar in lieu of rice.
“In 2015-16, there was a lot of pressure on rice. We (the State) did not have enough rice to give to all. So, we said we will give additional sugar instead of rice, and so, a lot of people took that option,” he said. Since Wednesday’s order permits grant of cash gift to those who purchase rice and denies it to those who buy sugar instead of rice, it would cause a lot of disappointment among the people,” he said.
Mr. Justice Sathyanarayana said the government had ended up creating an impression that cash gifts were being given in view of the upcoming elections. He recalled that he had seen a woman on television screaming that her entire family would boycott the elections if the cash gift was not given to her. “Rightly or wrongly, this is the impression you have created,” he said.
