Days after the ruling AIADMK objected to the burning of free mixers and grinders in the Vijay-starrer Sarkar (since removed) , the Madras High Court on Thursday disapproved of the practice of the State government providing freebies to people irrespective of their economic status.
Such a culture had made people lazy and led to a situation where migrant workers from northern States were expected to perform menial jobs, the court observed.
Free PDS rice
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose made the observation while dealing with a case related to providing rice free of cost to all ration card-holders under the PDS without restricting the supply to families below the poverty line (BPL).
“It is obligatory on the part of the government to provide bare necessities like rice and groceries only to the needy poor people. However, successive governments have extended the benefits to all for political benefits. Resultantly, the peoples’ mind itself got changed to expect everything free from the government,” the judges said.
It was during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed against the preventive detention of a black marketeer last month that the Bench led by Justice Kirubakaran had raised a host of questions related to PDS. It wanted to know the action taken so far against government officials for facilitating smuggling of PDS rice.
In reply, Advocate General Vijay Narayan on Thursday told the court that 442 officials of Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation had been booked in the last 10 years for malpractices related to PDS rice. Not satisfied with the reply, the judges asked him to submit details of their designations and specify how many were detained under the Goondas Act. The Bench also wondered how rice could be distributed free of cost to all, thereby forcing the government to incur “recurring capital loss” of around ₹2,000 crore every year.
Data sought
“This court is not against distribution of rice to the really deserving economically backward and poor people. It should not be given irrespective of the economic status. If the scheme benefits people other than the poor/BPL families, it would amount to unjustly enriching other people at the cost of public exchequer,” the judges said and sought to know the number of BPL families in the State and what the volume and value of rice would be to cater to their needs alone.
They asked the Advocate General to find out by November 30 whether the government was willing to restrict supply of free rice to BPL families. The civil supplies corporation was directed to submit annual reports of the last 10 years,
Published - November 23, 2018 01:19 am IST
