The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Centre and States to devise a mechanism so that people receive food grains without ration cards.
The top court also observed that “citizens are dying due to hunger despite our development and modalities should be set out to ensure that maximum migrant workers are given rations.” The apex court said the welfare schemes devised by the Centre should reach a maximum number of workers and the State Governments will have to cooperate and assist the Union of India.
"As far as our country is concerned, two people are very important. First is the farmer i.e the agriculturist and the second is migrant workers. Migrants also play a very important role in building the nation. Their rights cannot be ignored at all.
"Therefore you have to reach them. They may be illiterate and may not know how to avail benefits of government schemes. Concerned states will have to ensure benefits of the scheme reaches them," a bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna said.
"The Food and civil services department in each state must have a target of how many ration cards they are going to register. This has to be worked locally as each state will have its own criteria. There must be a fixed criterion.
"Ultimately, the aim is that no citizen should die of hunger in India. Unfortunately, this (starvation deaths) is happening despite our development, citizens are dying of hunger and lack of food. In villages, they tie their stomach tightly so that they do not feel hungry. I know it. They tie their stomachs with a sari or some other cloth and drink water and sleep. Children and elders do it because they cannot afford food," Justice B V Nagarathna observed.