New Delhi: Taking a serious view of the non-implementation of drought relief measures, the Supreme Court on Wednesday summoned the chief secretaries of Telangana state, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra to be personally present in the court on April 26. A petition filed by Swaraj Abhiyan had listed 12 states but the Supreme Court deleted Uttar Pradesh and Odisha after it was informed that they had complied with the directions issued in May last year.
A bench headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur issued summons after hearing senior counsel Prashant Bhushan for Swaraj Abhiyan contending that the 10 drought-affected states had not implemented the relief measures. In May last, the Supreme Court had ordered the governments not to hide behind the “smokescreen of lack of funds” and provide wide-ranging relief for the drought affected people in 12 states of the country and to implement the national Food Security Act in all the States.
The directions issued by the court included mid-day meals during the summer vacation, addition of egg or milk to the menu, universalising of food-grain rations, adequate and timely release of funds for the MNREGS and implementation of crop loss compensation, agricultural loan restructuring and provision for cattle fodder. The court had laid down new principles for declaration of drought. It expressed surprise that the implementation of a law enacted by Parliament such as the National Food Security Act was left to the whims and fancies of the state governments, and it had taken more than two years after the legislation came into force for Gujarat to implement it and UP had only implemented it partially.
“This is rather strange. A state government, by delaying implementation of a law passed by the Parliament and assented to by the President of India, is effectively refusing to implement it and Parliament is left a mute spectator,” the court had said. The court had put up the case for hearing to report on compliance of the directions. The bench asked the Chief Secretaries to personally explain the lapse after it was informed that the 10 States failed to implement the order. The bench directed the matter to be listed for further hearing on April 26.
State to tell court it has complied:
The state government will submit an undertaking before the Supreme Court within a week stating that it had complied with apex court directions issued in May 2016 on implementing drought relief measures. The government will bring to the notice of the apex court that it had starting implementing the mid-day meal scheme for students in schools during summer vacation from April last year, and had included egg in the menu. It had started supplying rice for '1 per kg at 6 kg per head in a household without any cap on the number of members in a family — which is more than what has been prescribed under the Food Security Act — and had adequately and timely release of funds under the MNREGS.
Chief secretary S.P. Singh, who reviewed the issue with officials on Wednesday, said compensation and input subsidy for crop loss was released last year and minor pending arrears would be released by this month-end. Agriculture loans have been restructured with the payment of three instalments of the crop loan waiver scheme for 32 lakh farmers. The last instalment of about Rs 3,000 crore to clear a total of Rs 17,000 crore of arrears would be released in April-May. The law department has been asked to draft the undertaking. The meeting felt that there was a ‘communication gap’ in submitting the details on drought relief measures due to which the court had summoned the Chief Secretary.
