Providing free ration during pandemic is different from giving freebies: Supreme Court

The court was hearing petitions seeking ration cards for migrant workers to ensure food security. The petition was initially filed by activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Harsh Mander and Jagdeep Chhokar. Subsequently, the top court took suo motu cognisance of the issue

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (November 26, 2024) differentiated between providing free ration to migrant workers to tide over the distress of the pandemic and indulging in the distribution of freebies.

Also Read: Making sense of the ‘freebies’ issue

“Ration card is an important official document which is associated with the identity and entitlement of a person but the difficulties arise when we indulge in freebies. COVID time was something different,” a Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant observed.

The court was hearing petitions seeking ration cards for migrant workers to ensure food security. The petition was initially filed by activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Harsh Mander and Jagdeep Chhokar. Subsequently, the top court took suo motu cognisance of the issue.

Also Read: India helped 80 crore people with free ration during COVID-19: CM Adityanath

The court had been passing a slew of directions, right from the time of the pandemic, to authorities to undertake welfare measures, including distributing ration cards to migrant workers registered with the ‘e-Shram’ portal.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued the government was bound by the National Food Security Act of 2013 and whatever entitlement was statutorily provided would be given.

He said there were certain NGOs who did not work on the ground during the pandemic and he could state on affidavit that the petitioner NGO was one among them.

On the other hand, Prashant Bhushan, who was representing the activists, said the Centre relied on data from the 2011 census for migrant workers and had not conducted a census in 2021. Actual figures were not available with it, he said.

Published - November 27, 2024 01:22 am IST