Implement One Nation, ‘One Ration Card’ scheme by July 31, Supreme Court orders states, UTs

The bench handed the orders in a suo motu case in regards to the welfare of migrant staff.

The Supreme Court docket has requested all states and union territories to implement the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme for migrant staff by July 31. The apex court docket additionally requested the state governments to run neighborhood kitchens to feed the migrants until the top of the Covid-19 pandemic. It ordered the central authorities to allocate extra meals grains to states for the aim. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and MR Shah was listening to a plea filed by activists looking for instructions to the Centre and states relating to meals safety, money transfers and different welfare measures for migrant staff. Issuing a slew of directives throughout the listening to, the highest court docket ordered that states ought to convey a scheme to offer dry ration to migrant staff.

The court docket additionally directed the central authorities to develop a web site in session with the Nationwide Informatics Centre to register unorganised and migrant staff. The bench handed the orders in a suo motu case in regards to the welfare of migrant staff.

The highest court docket additionally questioned the Centre for not making ready a Nationwide Database of Unorganised Employees regardless of its orders. The court docket expressed its displeasure saying that whereas Rs 417 crore has been disbursed for making the database, the work has been going at a snail’s tempo.

Representing the Centre, Solicitor Basic Tushar Mehta submitted that it could take the Nationwide Informatics Centre (NIC) one other three to 4 months to organize the Database. To this, the court docket famous that it ought to take a shorter time since it’s only a module.

The candidates within the case had contended that the states have provided little welfare assist to migrants forcing the second wave of exodus this yr.

The case was filed in 2020 looking for instructions to the central authorities for offering dry rations below the Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme to round 8 crore migrant labourers who are usually not lined below the Nationwide Meals Safety Act (NFSA).