Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “Hungry cannot wait”. The bench has also directed states to file an affidavit detailing the identification of eligible persons who have yet to receive ration cards.

The bench in its order directed that “all such persons who are eligible (entitled for Ration Cards/ food grains as per the NFSA) and have been identified as such by the respective States/Union Territories, must be issued Ration Cards before 19.11.2024. They shall also be provided with the food grains forthwith.”

However, the bench restrained itself from issuing contempt notices and granted last chance to the Central and State Governments to comply with its direction issued in this regard and the previous order of the court.

Background and importance of the case

In year 2020, when nation-wide lockdown was imposed due to Covid-19 on March 25, 2020, the Supreme Court of India took suo-moto cognizance on May 26, 2020 over the problems and miseries of Migrant Labours who were stranded in different part of the country. In which the three-judge bench, consisting Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.R expressed their concern with the lack of food and water provided by the administration while they are stranded or traveling along highways. While taking cognizance over the crisis of migrant labourers during the situation of lockdown, the bench directed the Centre and State Governments to provide adequate arrangements, immediately food and shelters free of costs to the migrant workers affected and issued notice to the Union and all the States to submit their response.

Later, the suo moto proceedings before the Supreme Court has been expanded to provide Ration Cards to migrant and unorganised labourers, who are registered in the e-Sharm portal of the Government of India but do not have ration cards and to those not covered under the NFSA on grounds that the right to food is protected under Article 21.

On June 29, 2021, the division bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah while disposing the suo moto petition “ In Re Problems and Miseries of Migrant Labourers”, underscored that the Right to Life as guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution and gives right to every human being to live a life of dignity with access to at-least the bare necessities of life and to provide food security to impoverished persons is the bounden duty of all States and Governments.

The concern regarding no-supply of dry ration to large section of migrant workers, who are not covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013 and who do not possess a ration card, raised by the intervenor, Advocate Prashant Bhushan before the Court. Following this, the bench through its judgement dated June 29, 2021 directed the Centre and States government to provide dry ration to those who have been identified as beneficiary under National Food Security Act, 2013 as per the Centre and States’ Schemes. The bench also stated that in event, a migrant labour is covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013 and had been issued a ration card under the Act, he is entitled to access the dry ration wherever he is, at his work place also, in accordance with scheme of the Central Government namely “One Nation One Ration Card”.

The bench issued the following eight directions to the Centre and States governments: –

1. Direction to the Central Government to develop the portal in consultation with National Information Centre (NIC) for registration of the unorganized labours/migrant workers and the process of registration of the unorganized labourers/migrant workers is completed at the earliest, but not later than 31.12.2021.
2. Directed the Central Government, Department of Food and Public Distribution (Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution) to allocate and distribute food grains as per demand of additional food-grains from the States for disbursement of dry food grains to migrant labourers.
3. Directed the States to bring in place an appropriate scheme for distribution of dry ration to migrant labourers for which it shall be open for States to ask for allocation of additional food grains from the Central Government, which, as directed above, shall provide the additional food grains to the State.
4. The State who have not yet implemented “One Nation One Ration Card” Scheme are directed to implement the same before 31.07.2021.
5. The Central Government may undertake exercise under Section 9 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 to re-determine the total number of persons to be covered under the Rural and Urban areas of the State.
6. All the States/Union Territories to register all establishments and license all contractors under the Act, 1979 and ensure that statutory duty imposed on the contractors to give particulars of migrant workers is fully complied with.
7. The State/Union Territories are directed to run community kitchens at prominent places where large number of migrant labourers are found for feeding those migrant labourers who does not have sufficient means to procure two meals a day. The running of the community kitchen should be continued at-least till pandemic (Covid-19) continues. (Para 80 of the Supreme Court judgement dated June 29, 2021)

The judgement of Supreme Court dated June 29, 2021 may be read here

Subsequent Orders by the Supreme Court

On April 18, 2022, the division bench of Justices M. R. Shah and B. V. Nagarathna directed the Union government to file a compliance report on the directions passed on June 29, 2021. Subsequently, the same bench on July 21, 2022 asked the Union to come out with a scheme/policy to ensure that the benefits under the NFSA are not restricted as per the 2011 census as the right to food is a fundamental right and restricting anyone would cause injustice. The bench observed that NFSA scope requires to be re-determined and asked the Central Government to take appropriate steps to remedy the situation

In January 2023, the same bench revisited the matter and while hearing the Miscellaneous Application No. 94/2022 in SMW(C) No. 6/2020 filed by activists Harsh Mander, Anjali Bharadwaj and Jagdeep Chhokar alleging non-compliance by Union and certain States with the Court’s directions issued in 2021, to provide dry ration, open community kitchens for migrant workers stranded in NCR, the bench directed the Union and State governments to inform whether the 28.60 crores migrants/unorganised workers registered on the E-Shram portal are having the ration cards? And whether all of them are given the benefit of food under the NFSA?

Subsequently, On April 20, 2023, the division bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Ahsanuddin Amanullah on the basis of the information provided by the Union, observed that 28.60 crores migrants/unorganized workers are registered on the e-Shram portal which is a commendable job. However, out of 28.60 registrants on e-Shram 20.63 crores are registered on ration card data. Meaning thereby, the rest registrants on e-Shram are still without ration cards. Without the ration card a migrant/unorganized labourer or his family members may be deprived of the benefit of the schemes and may be the benefit under the National Food Security Act. The bench directed state governments to grant ration cards to migrant or unorganized workers who do not have them but are registered on the centre’s e-Shram portal, within three months. This portal is primarily made for enrolment, registration, collection, and identification of the required data of all unorganized workers.

SC directed to issue ration cards to 8 crore migrant workers in March, 2024

On March 19, 2024, the bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah directed the State Governments and Union Territories to grant ration cards to 8 crore workers within two months to the unorganised sector who, despite being registered under the centre’s e-Shram portal and do not have these ration cards. The bench added that at the e-KYC of all 8 crore ration cardholders that are required to be updated must not come in the way of the issuance of ration cards.

Subsequently, on September 2, 2024, the Supreme Court’s division bench of Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol, directed the Additional Solicitor General, Aishwarya Bhati to file an affidavit with respect to the steps taken so far and to comply with the directions of the court in the main judgement passed on June 29, 2021 and the subsequent orders passed by the court. The bench further directed that this exercise shall be done within a period of three weeks.

Patience may be a virtue, but ours is nearing its end: SC

The Supreme Court through its order dated October 10, 2024 has run out of patience with States that have failed to provide ration cards to migrant workers despite identification of number of beneficiaries. The bench expressed that “Patience may be a virtue – but ours is nearing its end”

In a stern warning, the court has given them a final deadline of November 19, 2024, to issue the Ration cards.  The bench directed that “for the States where in spite of identification, Ration Cards have not been issued on or before 19.11.2024, the concerned Secretary/IES (Food and Civil Supplies) shall remain present in person before this Court on the next date of hearing, to explain as to why Ration Cards have not been issued despite the identification, and in spite of repeated orders in this regard.”

“Why Ration Cards have not been issued despite the identification, and in spite of repeated orders in this regard?”

The bench further directed that if States fail to comply, the concerned secretaries of Food and Civil Supplies will have to appear in person before the court to explain the delay on the next hearing.

The matter is listed on 19.11.2024 for next hearing

The order of the Supreme Court dated 04.10.2024 may be read here

However, the Supreme Court’s suo moto proceedings, initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide rations to migrant workers, have now been expanded to cover migrant and unorganized labourers registered on the Government of India’s e-Shram portal who lack ration cards. This move also aims to benefit those not protected under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), based on the principle that the right to food is safeguarded by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

Now the issue revolves around the National Food Security Act (NFSA), which restricts the number of persons eligible for ration cards. However, the court has made it clear that the right to food is a fundamental right and should not be restricted.

The court’s directive emphasizes that hungry individuals cannot wait, and it’s imperative to ensure food security for all, regardless of their eligibility under the NFSA. While underscoring the importance of the issue and the objective embedded under the National Food Security Act, the Supreme Court has ordered states to verify and provide ration cards to eligible migrant workers and unskilled labourers registered on the e-Shram portal. The Supreme Court’s suo moto action on issuing ration cards to migrant workers represents a significant step in safeguarding the right to food, as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution. By addressing the plight of those registered on the e-Shram portal but lacking access to essential resources, the Court underscores the government’s responsibility to protect vulnerable populations through judicial power.

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The post “Hungry Cannot Wait”: SC sets final deadline for Ration Cards to Migrant Workers appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It wanted the government to “immediately give ration cards to 8 crore migrant/unorganised sector workers as directed by the Supreme Court.”

The Right to Food Campaign is deeply disturbed by reports of the immense distress and problems being faced by people across the country on account of the government undertaking E-KYC verification of all 81 crore people who have ration cards and are entitled to receive foodgrains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

From different states, the campaign is receiving reports of people rushing back to their villages because they are being informed that failure to get EKYC of the whole family will result in stoppage of ration.

At a time when crores of people have been left out of the food security net on account of the government’s failure to carry out the census of 2021, it is inexplicable that the energy and resources of the government are being spent on creating further hinderance for existing ration cardholders rather than issuing ration cards to all those excluded from the NFSA.

As per ground reports, SMSes have been received by ration cardholders or they are being informed over the phone to immediately go to the nearest ration shop with their whole family to comply with E-KYC requirements through authentication via the POS machines. Ration shopkeepers are informing cardholders that failure to get E-KYC will result in denial of food grains. Even national media has been carrying news that failure to comply with EKYC will result in stoppage of free rations.

Rolling out an authentication exercise in this manner, without providing clear and official information to people about the framework within which the EKYC is being done, the need for EKYC, the timeline and consequences is creating intense distress and anxiety among people. The requirement for the whole family to be present at the ration shop has resulted in the most marginalised sections including migrant workers, elderly and those with disabilities being the most affected and likely to be left out of the EKYC.

Further, the campaign is extremely shocked to note that ration shopkeepers have been empowered to carry out the EKYC process thereby allowing them to exercise power and discretion over it. The ration shopkeeper has absolutely no role in issuance and cancellation of ration cards as that is the prerogative of the Food Department.

The shopkeepers role is limited to distribution of foodgrains to cardholders. This is a key separation of the roles as it is critical to empower people to seek accountability from shopkeepers in the distribution of grains without fear of facing backlash in the form of cancellation of ration cards.

Allowing shopkeepers to carry out EKYC is skewing the power balance and will undermine the capacity of people in raising problems and concerns about irregularities in ration distribution.

Dipa Sinha of the RTF campaign said it is clear that right to adequate and nutritious food is not getting the priority it should. The government’s intentions are clear even if one looks at the coverage and budget allocation. The total coverage of NFSA  still being determined by census 2011 leading to exclusion of crores of people.

If the government’s own population projections are used then as of the 2024 figures, 13 crore additional people should have also been provided ration cards under the NFSA. Instead of addressing this large gap, including through increased budgetary allocation, we find the current budget has slashed the food security budget by Rs. 5,000 crore.

Further, the unleashing of the EKYC in this manner, seems to be a conspiracy to cancel ration cards of people. We have seen how in the name of verification and authentication, even in the past crores of legible people, especially those who are the most marginalised get thrown out of the social security net.

Unemployment and unprecedented inflation has made people very vulnerable and many more people need access to rations. Rations and foodgrains are a legal, constitutional right and not some revdi or dole by the government, as it is sought to be projected these days.

Anjali Bhardwaj of the RTF campaign said that anxiety and distress among people is also happening because of the unclear communication by the government. Pointing to the SMS sent by the Food Department in Delhi (pasted at the end of this document), she noted that no proper information is being provided to people regarding the rules, time-frame, necessity and process of EKYC.

This coupled with news stories that foodgrains on the ration card will be discontinued if EKYC is not done, has led to this situation where people are spending thousands of rupees to rush to the ration shops, especially migrant workers who are travelling to their home state to do the EKYC process.  She spoke of the ongoing case in the Supreme Court in which since 2021 the SC has been giving directions on increasing coverage under NFSA.

In June 2021, the Supreme Court (in xxx) directed the central government to re-determine coverage taking into account the increase in population while the coverage remains stagnant as per 2011 census numbers. Upon the central government stating that re-determination of coverage is not possible in the absence of the census and the census is indefinitely postponed.

The unleashing of the EKYC seems to be a conspiracy to cancel ration cards of people, throw out most marginalised out of the social security net

In 2022, the SC directed the government to consider the population projections figures to increase coverage and finally in April 2023, the SC gave explicit directions that 8 crore people who are registered on the E-shram portal must be immediately issued ration cards. The court has clarified that this should be done irrespective of the quotas defined in the NFSA and the central government must release additional rations to states.

In July 2024, the Court took serious note of the slow pace at which states are carrying out the exercise of verifying and issuing ration cards and directed that all states must complete the work within 4 weeks failing which the court would initiate proceedings against concerned officials.

Annie Raja of the RTF Campaign said that a government which claims to be pro women is creating unprecedented havoc in their lives by forcing them to run around for even their most basic entitlement of ration. What is the purpose of this EKYC? Will they cancel ration cards of those who are unable to comply?

This is going to be a huge blow for ordinary people. By cancelling ration cards who does the government want to benefit? The government is denying people their right to live with dignity- such high unemployment, and budget for NREGA is also wholly inadequate. Now even right to food is in crisis.

Is this the government taking revenge for their reduced numbers in the elections?

Several people spoke of the problems they are facing on account of the EKYC issue.

Sunita hails from UP and is staying on rent in a slum settlement near Malviya Nagar with her family. She has a ration card issued by the government of UP, and she received a call from the ration shopkeeper asking her to come quickly to get her EKYC done. Worried that her ration card may get cancelled she, her husband and 4 children spent around Rs. 6,000 making the round trip from Delhi to UP by bus in order to do the EKYC.

Only Sunita, her husband and one child are listed on the ration card and therefore they get only 15 kgs of grain per month. During the EKYC process the shopkeeper informed her that authentication of her only child listed on the ration card failed as the aadhaar is outdated! She was advised to get the aadhaar updated and try again at a later date. She spent more than 15 days in the village trying to get the aadhaar updated, but was unsuccessful as they were told there are some server and connectivity issues. Other than the verbal communication from the shopkeeper, she has not received any official communication from the department and is unsure of the next steps. Sunita’s husband works as a daily wager and had to missed several days of work due to the unexpected emergency travel.

Munish Devi is currently living on rent in Jagdamba Camp. She is a widow and works as a domestic worker. She is getting calls from her village in Sambhal district, Uttar Pradesh asking her to come for EKYC but she is unable to afford the trip and is worried that she will not get leave. Her family members in the village have been told that if EKYC is not done, Munish and her childrens names will be struck off.

Sumaira, a domestic worker, spent ₹ 8,000 to travel to her village in UP with 7 members of the family for the EKYC process. They ended staying for 15 days and losing their wages as the EKYC of one child was not successful and they had to wait to get it updated.

Sangeeta shared that her husband is bed ridden and there is no way to take him to Ghaziabad for EKYC. She went to the ration shop and failed to get her own EKYC done as it was too crowded.

Similar issues are coming across states- wherein inter state and intra state people are rushing for the EKYC process. From UP there are reports of ration shopkeepers are charging between Rs. 50-200 per person for the updation of EKYC.

The campaign demands that the government immediately halt the EKYC process to prevent further distress among ration cardholders. Further, the government must immediately issue ration cards to all those left out of the purview of the NFSA on account of the failure of the government to carry out the census of 2021.

Click here for NGOs and individuals endorsing the statement 

Courtesy: CounterView

The post Distressed, people rushing back to villages failing to get EKYC approved, stoppage of ration appeared first on SabrangIndia.

While hearing a petition (MA 94/2022) in the case ‘Re Problems and Miseries of Migrant Labourers’, has given a significant directions to ensure food security for migrant workers and unorganised sector workers. The bench, consisting of Justices Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah Wok took grave note of the failure of the union of India (U01) and various state governments to comply with the previous direction of the court, almost a year ago, on April 20, 2023. In this order directions were given to all State/UT governments to issue ration cards under NFSA to the 8 crore persons who are registered on the eShrarn portal but do not possess ration cards.

The court further noted that unnecessary delays were being caused by putting in impediments such as requiring eKYC of all 80 crore ration cardholders to be updated before the direction could be compiled with. The bench noted that the exercise of matching eShram registrants with NFSA beneficiaries had already been undertaken and on that basis it had been found that nearly 8 crore people do not possess ration cards and hence do not get the benefit of monthly food grains under the Act.

The court thereby directed all the states and UTs must issue ration cards within a period of two months and further directed that any exercise of eKYC the central government may want undertake can happen contemporaneously and that must not come in the way of issuance of ration cards.

Further, the court also ordered that the ration cards must be issued irrespective of the quotas defined in section 3 of the NFSA. It was pointed out on behalf of the petitioners that the coverage of persons getting rations under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) is to be determined on the basis of the latest census. As the census of 2021 has not been undertaken, the coverage continues to be on the basis of the 2011 census even though population has increased- thereby leading to exclusion of more than 10 crore people from the purview of the food security net. As the coverage has not been increased most states have exhausted their quotas of ration card beneficiaries under the NFSA and are unable to issue new cards. The court ordered that states/UTs shall issue ration cards to the additional 8 crore people and not be bound by the quotas defined in the NFSA.

Counsels Prashant Bhushan and Cheryl D’Souza represented the petitioners in the matter.

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The post SC: Give ration cards to 8 crore migrant/unorganised sector workers within two months appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On July 21, the Supreme Court heard the application seeking compliance with its judgment regarding problems and miseries of migrant labourers, and directed the Central and State governments to ensure that migrant workers are mandatorily provided ration.

A Bench comprising Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna reportedly said that they would pass orders with appropriate directions, which would include directions regarding provision of dry ration as well as directions to expedite the process of registration of the migrant workers on the e-shram portal, reported LiveLaw.

Additional Solicitor General, Aishwarya Bhati, informed the Court that the registration on the portal through which migrant workers can avail the benefit of certain schemes, is going on. The ASG also informed the Bench that in order to encourage the process of registration, camps are being organised.

The Bench expressed disappointment while taking note of the fact that there were several states that are yet to reach the 50% mark. Justice Shah reportedly remarked, “In a welfare society, in our country, two persons are most important – farmers and migrant labourers. Migrants play an important role in building the he nation. They cannot be ignored at all. If the needy cannot reach the well, the well has to go to the needy and thirsty people. The concerned State Governments have to ensure the benefits reach them. Why don’t you go to the places where they are working;…issue circulars to all contractors that unless their names are registered on the portal you would be responsible. Everybody has to try. There are contractors everywhere now.”

Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing on behalf of the petitioners brought to the court’s notice how the exercise to re-determine coverage under the National Food Security Act has not been undertaken and therefore a large number of the workers have not been issued ration cards. He reportedly submitted, “….most migrants do not have ration cards, this current number is based on the 2011 Census and not 2021. But the Central Government says that in 2021 there was a pandemic; we couldn’t do a census. The Health Department has a population estimate but they said they can only go with Census data. There lies the heart of the problem.”

Stressing upon the extent of deprivation the reliance on the 2011 census report has caused, he informed the Bench that approximately 75% of the migrant workers in the State of Telangana do not possess ration cards (only 14,000 migrant workers out of 60,980 are with ration cards).

Justice Shah reportedly observed, “Judicial notice can be taken that the population has increased. Going by 2011 might be doing some injustice to the needy person. In true perspective you have to consider that your own people who are needy are getting something. If you determine the quota on the basis of 2011, you might be doing some injustice. You have to see to it also that they have ration cards. We are not on why census has not been done. We have to work out a modality so that more migrants can get the benefit.”

With respect to the State’s duty to provide adequate ration to the citizens, Justice Nagarathna reportedly remarked, “Ultimately in India no citizen should die of hunger. But that is happening. Citizens are dying of hunger. In villages they tie their stomach tightly with cloth; they drink water and sleep. They tie it tightly so that they can kill hunger.”

In its order dated July 2021, the Bench had passed directions with respect to workers being provided dry ration whether they possess ration cards or not. They are:

1. Central Government to undertake exercise under Section 9 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 to re-determine the total number of persons to be covered in Rural and Urban areas of the State under the Public Distribution System of NFSA as the coverage is still based on the 2011 census report.

2. State Governments to bring in place appropriate schemes for distribution of dry ration to migrant workers without insistence on furnishing of identity proof, and continue such schemes till the time the pandemic continues.

3. State Governments to run community kitchens at prominent places where large numbers of migrant labourers are found, to provide cooked food and continue this till such time the pandemic continues.

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The post Issuing Ration Cards on the basis of 2011 Census might be injustice: SC to Union Gov’t appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Increasing media reports, first in the Hindustan Times and then The Pioneer have reported that the Uttar Pradesh government is in a post-election spree of seizing “ineligible” ration cards. This is ironic given that political analysts have attributed the free ration scheme announced by the ruling regime in Lucknow to take the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to its second win the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh under Adityanath.

Immediately after results were announced on March 10, second time chief minister Ajay Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath had even announced that that his government would continue to give free ration to 15,00,000 eligible, poor people across the state for the next three months. But who is poor and who is eligible is the moot question given the April 2022 Government Order asking “ineligible” individuals to “surrender” their ration cards or, surprise or surprises, they will face punitive action, an FIR against them. The deadline for surrendering these is today, March 20. Individuals can surrender their ration cards at their block offices or the office of the district supply officer, the official said.

UP’s guidelines, reportedly under National Food Security Act 2013, are specific and particular: The government guidelines specify that the residents are ineligible to hold a ration card if one of the members of the family pays income tax, more than one member holds an arms licence, or if a member has an annual income of more than Rs 3 lakh in urban areas and Rs 2 lakh in rural areas, or he /she owns a house, flat or a commercial space of more than 100 square feet area. Families who own a four-wheeler/tractor/harvester/ air-conditioner or generator set at home are considered ineligible to hold ration cards as well, the guideline says.

A senior official reportedly told the media that the district administration would send recovery notices to those ineligible people who do not submit their ration cards by May 20 and may even lodge FIRs against them under provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He said the recovery would be made as per the guidelines. All district magistrates have issued orders accordingly. According to officials, the “recovery process” includes imposing penalties at a rate of Rs24 for a kilogram of wheat and Rs32 for a kilogram of rice from the time ineligible households started availing ration.

HT reports that 1520 ration cards were “surrendered” in Lucknow by March 17 fearing legal action. A senior official has told the media that the district administration would send recovery notices to those ineligible people who did not surrender their ration cards by May 20 and may initiate legal action against them under provisions of NFS Act 2013.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, ration card holders were given free ration twice a month — once from the Centre and the other time from the Uttar Pradesh government. There were complaints that many non-eligible persons were getting ration but the government preferred to look the other way because of the assembly elections. There were also serious allegations of bias and prejudice with the rations not reaching minority dominated and Dalit dominated areas.

There are two types of ration cards — Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards and Priority Household cards. Families with an annual income of less than Rs 3 lakh per annum in urban areas and Rs 2 lakh in rural areas are eligible for priority household cards. People who have no house, fixed income or working skills — essentially, the poorest strata of the society — are eligible for AAY cards.

As per the district supply office record, as reported by HT, presently there are 7,86,218 ration cards in the state capital, covering around 31,18,110 units (people). Of the total ration card-holders, there are around 50,112 Antyodaya card-holders (covering around 1,51,317 people) and 736106 Priority House Hold (PHH) card-holders (covering around 6,34,901 people).

According to the present grain distribution system, Singh said of the two, the Antyodaya card-holders used to get 35kg food grains, including 20kg wheat at ₹2 per kg and 15kg rice at ₹3 per kg. The PHH or regular ration card-holders used to get 5kg food grains, including 3kg wheat at ₹2 per kg and 2kg rice at ₹3 per kg, per unit. In addition, under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY), the UP government had announced 5kg food grains (per unit) and it was also giving one kg gram (chana), one litre oil and one kg salt packet to the ration card-holders.

India’s declining food security

India’s declining ranking (India has ranked 71 among 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index with a score of 57.2) leaves these recent moves open to question. If state governments or the Centre restrict distribution through the public distribution system (PDS) the policy will not just privatise trade in basic food but also affect overall food security of the country. The GFS Index is released by Economist Impact and Corteva Agriscience. The Index is measured on four metrics, Affordability, Availability, Quality &Safety, and Natural resources&Resilience.

Compared to few of its neighbouring countries, India has a better overall score. Pakistan is ranked at 75th position, Sri Lanka at 77th, Nepal at 79th and Bangladesh at 84th position. However larger countries like China (34) and Russia (23) hold a much better position than India.

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The post “Ineligible” people told to return ration cards in UP appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Supreme Court has sought the response of the Central Government on a plea alleging the cancellation of 3 crore ration cards on account of non-linking with Aadhaar Cards that resulted in starvation deaths, reported LiveLaw.

Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves appeared for Koili Devi (petitioner) and Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi represented the Centre and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that issues Aadhaar cards.

The Supreme Court Bench headed by CJI SA Bobde issued the direction while hearing a PIL filed on the issue of implementation of a grievance redressal mechanism to ensure food to everyone under the National Food Security Act, as per media reports. “The matter is too serious”, said the Bench as per a LiveLaw report.

Senior counsel Colin Gonsalves submitted that the petition dealt with an alarming state of affairs, and alleged that the Central government had cancelled three crore ration cards without giving notice to the beneficiary.

LiveLaw quoted the Bench saying, “We see the seriousness of the problem. I have dealt with this matter with relation to Belghat. You are asking for an omnibus kind of relief. You should have the matter investigated by Jurisdictional High Court. This kind of thing will not help us or anybody. If you make an allegation about the entire country, this court cannot go into that.”

But Gonsalves argued that the cancellation was brought about by the Central Government. “Three crore cards have been cancelled on Central level”, he said. The Bench then said, “There’s nothing in law that states the High Court can’t set aside cancellation of Aadhaar cards.”

Gonsalves reiterated as reported by LiveLaw, “No Aadhaar cards are not found cancelled, the tribals either don’t have Aadhaar cards, or the identification doesn’t work in tribal and rural areas. Because of this reliance on Aadhaar cards, can you imagine 3 crore cards are gone!”

The Bench astonishingly asked, “Three crore cards have gone?” Senior counsel Colin responded, “Yes. Starvation deaths are taking place. 3 crores ration cards have gone! I can show UOI declaration. It’s an announcement of the Prime Minister.”

The Bench clarified that it was not belittling the problem and after being informed about the cancellation by the authority, it said that it would take up the matter and keep it for final hearing.

Despite ASG Aman Lekhi’s submission that the government notification explicitly states that the absence of Aadhaar will not lead to denial of ration cards, the top court Bench also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian reportedly said that it will hear the matter in another 4 weeks.

The petitioner approached the Supreme Court after her 13-year-old girl died of starvation in September 2017 after they were denied ration in Jharkhand, reported HT. During a hearing on February 24 last year, the Centre had denied allegations of such starvation deaths in Jharkhand and arbitrary cancellation of ration cards across the country.

It said that the cancellation between 2013 to 2016 pertained to ghost ration cards and KK Venugopal asserted that the statistics referred to in the petition were completely wrong and submitted that they would prove the averments as incorrect.

Related:

Jharkhand: Aadhaar Continues to Deny Grain Entitlements to Poor, Cancellation of Ration Cards Adding to Woes
Jharkand’s Poor Struck Off Ration Cards, Pensioners List, declared ‘Fake’

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A study by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) last week revealed that almost 90 percent of ration cards that were declared invalid by the Jharkhand government by the Jharkhand government. The study also revealed that almost 56percent of the deleted ration cards were not linked with their Aadhaar cards. These numbers have come at a time when the Jharkhand government is planning a mass deletion of another chunk of ration cards reported The Telegraph India.

Titled “Identity verification standard in welfare programmes: Experimental evidence from India”, the study had surveyed 3,901 households in 10 districts of Jharkhand and it also put forth the startling revelations of several deaths that took place that were suspected to have happened due to starvation arising from the dispossession of the ration card, though the BJP government which was then in power never accepted that there was any loss of life due to hunger. The J-PAL study found out that 213 ration cards from the sample households were cancelled, but 26 cancellations were fake. This meant that only 12.2 percent of the 213 cancelled ration cards were fake and the rest 87.8 percent were genuine.

The state government had declared lakhs of ration cards invalid citing them to be ‘fake’. The Jharkhand Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma had also said that all ration cards not linked with the Aadhaar by April 5, 2017 would become ‘null and void’. In its statement the government first said that it ordered to cancel 11 lakh ration cards because the users couldn’t provide their Aadhaar details. The number was revised to 6.96 lakh.

At the time, right to food activists had stated that most of the cancelled cards belonged to bona fide beneficiaries who hadn’t even been informed before the cancellation and that the cancellations happened because of biometric failures due to lack of internet connectivity and charging of the Point of Sale (PoS) machines and corruption by dealers.

It was reported that 23 deaths took place due to starvation and non-availability of subsidized food grains from 2015 – 2019, a number that portrays the pitfalls of the decisions taken on basis of the document driven filtering process.

The Jharkhand report was drawn up by economists Karthik Muralidharan, Paul Niehaus and Sandip Sukhtankar based on a survey by J-Pal which was co-founded by economists Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo who had won the Nobel Prize last year.

 Asharfi Nand Prasad, state convener of the Right to Food campaign said, “This (J-PAL) study showed that nearly 90 per cent of the cancelled cards were not fake and also exposed the state government’s claim to the contrary,” and demanded that the government publish details of the deleted cards and stop further cancellation. “The government should follow a transparent process if it needs to delete ration cards, issue notice to the suspect cardholders and give them a chance to represent themselves,” Prasad said.

BJP leader turned independent MLA from Jamshedpur East Saryu Roy who was the food and civil supplies minister for the state at the time of the cancellation of the cards, said that he had opposed the deletion drive and that any decision that was taken was done bypassing him.

Saying that neither the figures nor the explanation had ever been placed before him, he said, “I opposed the cancellation of ration cards for lack of Aadhaar linkage and had demanded to know the exact number of cards cancelled and also the reason for which those were cancelled.”

The entire study by J-PAL may be read below.

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Hundreds of ration cardholders of 11 villages from across West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand have protested in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office against the denial of their Public Distribution System (PDS) foodgrains for “many months” over the past two years. Following the protest dharna, a list of demands was forwarded to the district administration, stating, pending grains of all the villages from 2016 onward should be immediately distributed to the cardholders.

Speaking on the occasion, John Kayam of Chakradharpur’s Baipi village said, “None of the cardholders of our village has received PDS grains for the months of September-December 2018.” He added, “We complained several times to the Supply Officer, District Grievance Redress Officer (DGRO), Deputy Commissioner (DC) and even the State Food Commission.”

Kelaram Majhi from the neighbouring village of Kupui said, “We have also not received grains for those months. Eighty-one cardholders of the village have decided that they will not take any PDS ration till they get their pending grains.” A similar view was expressed by protesters from Khuntpanin block’s Ulirajabasa, Bada Bankua, Onkolkuti and Sonua’s Podahat.

The National Food Security Act mandates that all grievances are to be redressed within one month. Many cardholders present at the dharna said that, despite repeated complaints to the block and district administrations over the past one year, their issues remain unresolved.
 

 

Villagers of Kupui said that the Block Supply Officer and the ration dealer had forged their thumbprints and signatures in a report to the district administration, according to which the cardholders of the village should have received grains for September to December 2018, but they are yet to receive it. DGRO threatened them that their ration cards would be cancelled if they did not agree to take the ration for months other than September-December 2018.

People of Khuntpani’s Ulirajabasa said that they did not get ration for three months in 2016, one month in 2017 and four months in 2018. After several complaints, they were called for a district-level hearing. But the DGRO declared that they will get pending grains only for the four months of 2018. According to her, cases of 2016 and 2017 are very old. Elderly Suniya Jojo of Baipi said, “Don’t the officials feel ashamed to eat the ration meant for the poor”.

Biren Diggi of Sonua’s Podahat village died of hunger in December 2018 after being denied grains for four months. Kaushalya Diggi of the same village said in the dharna today that despite so many complaints since then, the villagers are yet to be given ration for September-December 2018. Cardholders of Lupungutu village of Chaibasa Sadar block asserted, the ration dealer makes them authenticate in the electronic Point of Sale machine but does not give them grains.

Manki Tubid, who works on people’s rights in the district, said that irregularities in the PDS are not limited to a few villages, but are widespread across the district. While the ration dealers claim that they are not allocated grains, according to the administration, the dealers are regularly allocated grains as per their online transaction reports. A question raised by everyone in dharna was, “Where is the grain going then?” This also makes hollow the claims of the government that Aadhaar has helped in checking leakages in PDS, it was added.
 

 

Since Aadhaar was made mandatory in the PDS, cardholders have been facing several hassles. Ration cards not linked with Aadhaar were cancelled in thousands. Many of them are yet to be reissued new cards. Elderly Shuru of Lupungutu village is denied her grain entitlement since a year as her card was cancelled. None of the dealers maintains exemption registers to distribute grains to those who are not unable to successfully authenticate themselves through biometrics.

Representatives met the official on special duty (OSD) of DC. He admitted that several villages of the district are facing this issue. He also said that people would not get the pending ration as the dealer was not allocated the grains. He said the department allocates grains to the dealers as per their online transaction report. When it was pointed out that it means that grains are getting leaked, he remained silent. 
 

The team submitted a memorandum to DC, which included the following demands: 

• Pending grains of all the villages from 2016 onward should be immediately distributed to the cardholders.
• All eligible families whose ration cards have been cancelled, should be immediately issued new cards 
• Ration dealers responsible for siphoning off PDS grains should be terminated and all functionaries responsible for the irregularities should be adequately punished. 
• Aadhaar-based biometric authentication system should be removed from the PDS. 

The dharna ended with burning of effigies of DGRO and the District Supply Officer.

First published on https://www.counterview.net

 

The post Who ate our foodgrains? Ration cardholders of Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum ask govt appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: Scroll

Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), every household below the poverty line is entitled to 5 kgs of grain for each member registered on the card every month at nominal prices (35 kgs per household for Antyodaya cardholders).

However, ration has not been distributed in some villages for several months. People of Ulirajabasa, a village in Khuntpani Block in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, did not get ration in September-December 2018 and February 2019, for one month in 2017 and for three months in 2016. Residents of Ankolkuti village, under the same block, have not received their grain entitlements during August-September and November-December 2018.

Internet unavailability adding to woes 
Even though the ration shops are in their villages, the 315-odd tribal families in the two villages have to travel 3 km to another village just for Aadhaar-based biometric authentication required for getting their grain entitlement, as their villages do not have adequate internet connectivity.

Meena Bodra, a resident of Ulirajabasa village, said, “Not only do the people have to spend money for the travel, they also have to lose their daily wages; sometimes for 2-3 days. And after all these hassles, biometric failure continues to deny cardholders their grain entitlements.”

Another resident, Kande Purty, was denied his ration for the month of January 2019 as his fingerprints did not work in the PoS (Point of Sale) machine.

People unequivocally said that the earlier system of ration distribution (through registers) was better than the current biometric-based system.

Cancellation of large number of ration cards
While some vulnerable families are yet to get their ration cards, the cards of many marginalised families have been cancelled recently.
Asai Bodra, a resident of Paseya village at Khuntpani block in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, who is physically disabled, said that she could not collect her ration for the month of February 2018, as her ration card was cancelled without even informing her.

Banubinj village’s Naguri Hembram said that she and some other families have stopped getting ration since July 2017 as their ration cards were cancelled.

People said they had complained to the block administration several times, but the issues remain unresolved. And therefore, hundreds of the villagers of Khuntpani block protested at the block administration’s office against the denial of ration, use of Aadhaar and other irregularities in the PDS.

They also submitted the attached memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Raghubar Das to the Block Development Officer (BDO) demanding grain entitlements pending for earlier months be immediately given to the cardholders and the government should ensure timely delivery of ration every month. Other key demands include: Aadhaar-based biometric authentication system (PoS machine) be removed from the PDS and Aadhaar be made non-mandatory, earlier system of ration distribution (through registers) be implemented, license of all concerned ration dealers be cancelled and women self-help groups be given responsibility for distribution, families whose ration cards have been cancelled should be immediately re-enrolled in the Public Distribution System, administrative action be taken on all officials responsible for denial of ration and deletion.

District admin acknowledges problem
Arva Rajkamal, deputy commissioner of West Singhbhum district, admitted the problems being faced by the residents of Khuntpani block. “I have asked the marketing officer for an explanation and a report which will be acted upon. We are taking steps to ensure that no one is deprived of mandatory entitlement of monthly quota of food grains,” he said.

The Jharkhand government on February 5 made it mandatory to link Aadhaar with ration cards in order for a household to receive its ration under the PDS.

The Aadhaar of 68.8 lakh out of 2.62 crore registered in the PDS – according to official figures on the state’s food department website – are yet to be linked with family ration cards. Going by the experience of the last few years, the government’s decision to make Aadhaar linkage mandatory could lead to widespread denial of grain entitlements.

In February 2017, the Central government made Aadhaar-seeding and Aadhaar-based biometric authentication (ABBA) mandatory for availing ration in PDS. The notification – and similar ones after – states that even if the Aadhaar of only one member of a household is linked with their ration card, the family must receive the total quantity of grain entitled to it.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum
 

The post Jharkhand: Aadhaar Continues to Deny Grain Entitlements to Poor, Cancellation of Ration Cards Adding to Woes appeared first on SabrangIndia.

11,64,000 ration cards cancelled as ‘fake’;
2,71,000 old-age pensioners have been declared ‘fake’;
pruning of MGNREGA applicants as ‘fake’

The Jharkhand government published  a full page advertisement on September 22, enumerating its achievements during the 1000 days it has been in power.  Among the ‘achievements’ there is one item in the list that details of how it has cancelled 11,64,000 ‘fake ration cards’ leading to saving Rs.225 crores. Similarly, the state government has also ‘cancelled; 2,71,000 old-age pension documents and saved Rs.86 crores. Again, the state government claimed that it has saved Rs.203 crores by pruning MGNREGA ‘fake applicants’.  This is peddled like and appears to be a huge achievement of the govt.

But can such ‘saving’ be at the cost of the deprivation of deserving families?                                                             
News reports trickling in from interior villages tell a different story. Volunteers of ‘Right to Food Campaign’ found out that several poor toiling people are being denied rations saying their cards are ‘fake’.  When these families complained to concerned officials, they were told because they did not have Aadhaar Card, while the Minister for Food Supplies has given a clear directive that not having Aadhaar Card should not be an excuse for not giving rations to the deserving poor. One wonders whose orders are being obeyed by local officials!       
                                          
Dheeraj Kumar, a volunteer working in Khunti district of Jharkhand,  has the following to say about how Aadhaar is being used to circumvent PESA Act which gives constitutional powers to Gram Sabhas:

“ I would like to add few things about the exploitative character of Aadhar. What Modi government is presenting as a magic wand to end corruption and saving revenue,  is in fact  another weapon of exploitation of poor in the hand of officials, endangering their minimal food security provisioned in National Food Security Act.  Aadhar based biometric authentication system is already creating  exclusion and inconvenience in PDS, now the cancellation of ration cards just because they were not linked with Aadhar number may lead to starvation of poor, marginalised and voiceless people.  We have been told by villagers that they have submitted Aadhar card several times to dealer  but still their ration cards were cancelled. It raises question whether the Aadhar has become another instrument of arbitrary use of power by the state  against  the poor and voiceless, bypassing the constitutional power of PESA?” [emphasis added].(Dheeraj Kumar by email, 4 October.2017)
 Who decides who the deserving beneficiaries are? It should be, as per law, the respective Gram Sabha.

The PESA Act, 1996, declares: “every Gram Sabha shall be responsible for the identification or selection of persons as beneficiaries under the poverty alleviation and other programmes”. [PESA 4.(e).(ii)]. This power of the Gram Sabha cannot be overridden by any other govt machinery. After all, it is common sense that the members of the Gram Sabha not only know every single family in their village but also know the  economic and social condition of each family. Hence Gram Sabha is the most competent body to decide which families deserve govt’s special assistance to carry on their life in a humane way. On the other hand,  the govt servants/officials are not only outsiders but also generally have no concern for the well-being of the poor. But alas, they have usurped  the powers of Gram Sabha. This is illegal and unjust.

Unfair arbitrary imposition of ‘digital’ exercise on a largely illiterate population: 2011 national survey reveals in Jharkhand only 54% of male tribal and 27% of female tribal are literate. That means about half the male tribals and two-thirds of female tribals are illiterate.  This is the sad reality after 70 years of independence! Now to impose a highly technical digital system on them in unfair and unjust. Added to this is the fact that 56% households in Jharkhand are not yet electrified, and although most villages are  electrified the supply is only for limited hours. There are other factors such as whether the computer is functioning or whether the computer-operator is present etc.

Lastly, despite the (last) SC ruling that Aadhaar Card is voluntary, in practice it has been made compulsory. The poor, illiterate rural folk in interior villages are the casualties of state government’s arbitrary action.   
 

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