'Don't cite problems, implement one nation one ration card' SC to Bengal

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the West Bengal government to immediately implement the 'one nation one ration card' scheme.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R, Shah said no excuse will be considered and the state must implement the scheme, as the state government counsel submitted that there are Aadhaar seeding issues. The bench said: "You cannot cite one or the other problem. This is for migrant workers."

The top court was hearing the suo moto case addressing the problems and miseries of migrant workers amid the COVID pandemic. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that there were nearly 2.8 crore migrants without ration cards, and they are under serious difficulty as they would not be covered under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.

The bench noted that the scheme has been extended till November, but Dave said the scheme will benefit only those who have ration cards.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointed out that 80 crore have been identified under the Garib Kalyan scheme.

As the bench queried what scheme will cover the people who don't have ration cards, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati replied that the latitude has been left to the states and it is for the states to have schemes for those who do not have ration cards.

The bench noted that the Centre is ready to distribute food grains, and it has to see what mechanism can be adopted. Dave, however, argued that the Centre is trying to pass the burden on states.

During the hearing, counsel for the Maharashtra and Punjab governments informed the court that they follow the one nation one ration card scheme. At this stage, the West Bengal government counsel submitted that the state has not implemented the scheme yet and the bench said that it has to implement it when the others have. (IANS)

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