81.35 Crore People Getting Food Ration, Says Union; More Could Benefit Had 2021 Census Been Done, Petitioners Tell Supreme Court

The Supreme Court yesterday (December 9) heard the matter pertaining to giving free ration cards to "28 crore" migrant workers and unskilled labourers found registered under the e-Shram portal.

Before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Manmohan, intervenor Prashant Bhushan reiterated that 6 orders have been passed by the Court for providing rations to all those eligible under the e-Shram portal. He specially referred to the October 4 order passed by the bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Amanullah that "all such persons who are eligible (entitled for Ration Cards/ foodgrains 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."

Bhushan pointed out that post this order, an application has been filed by the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India seeking that it be allowed to comply with the directions strictly as per the ceiling limit mandated by the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). As per Section 9 of NFSA, 50 percent of the urban population and 75 percent rural population shall be given ration cards appropriately. 

Against this, Bhushan on numerous occasions had argued that the upper ceiling has been grounded in terms of the 2011 Census and had the 2021 Census been done, hundreds of others would be eligible for free and subsidised ration. As per the intervenor, 28 crore people were registered on the e-Shram portal out of which the Union Government found that approximately 8 crores do not have ration cards.

Yesterday, reiterating his submissions, Bhushan said: "If you would have done the 2021 census, you would have found that 10 crore more people are entitled to quota...Union is saying, we are not going to extend the ration to people who go beyond the quota of 50% and 75% and we have already exhausted the quota."

This matter comes suo motu cognizance taken by the Court of the problems and miseries of the migrant labourers by its order dated May 26, 2020, during the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From time to time, it issued orders on the transportation of migrant labourers from their workplace to their native places and provided dry rations without insisting on an identity card as well as cooked meals to the stranded migrant workers.

On June 26, 2021, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah (main order) issued directions that the States and Union Territories must bring in place an appropriate scheme for the distribution of dry ration to migrant labourers and implement the “One Nation OneRation Card” scheme. Since then, successive orders were passed which then included migrants and unorganised sectors, in which "28 crores were registered on the e-Sharm portal".

As against the intervenor's arguments, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati submitted that already "81.35 crore" people are getting benefits under the NFSA. To this, Bhushan responded that approximately 140 people in India are very poor and need subsidised food for the realisation of Article 21 rights.

He questioned under what law can the Union deny subsidised ration to those outside the statutory quota. Adding to this, Bhushan stated that after the COVID pandemic, the condition of poor people has actually worsened because unemployment has increased significantly. 

To this, Justice Kant orally remarked that it should then be deliberated on what could be done to generate employment.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that this matter is a "so-called PIL" done by an "armed-chair intellectual" where attempts have been made to "run the Government".

This was then followed by a heated discussion between Mehta and Bhushan where the latter accused the former of passing "barred comments" whenever he appeared. Bhushan added that the Solicitor does so because he had once revealed a set of emails against Mehta which was "very, very damaging".

Justice Kant without commenting on the discussion, recommended: "Unnecessary, we cannot trap the State Governments because only to appease people, they will keep on issuing ration cards because they know that the liability is on the Central Government."

Court will hear the matter in January.

Case Details: IN RE PROBLEMS AND MISERIES OF MIGRANT LABOURERS MA 94/2022 in SMW(C) No. 6/2020