The High Court of Karnataka has directed the State government to examine lacunae in distribution of ration to children, pregnant woman and lactating mothers through anganwadis, and ration distribution through fair-price shops (FPS) during the lockdown, as pointed out in the reports of two random surveys conducted during April.
The reports highlighted the issues of not opening some FPS, non-availability of sufficient ration at FPS, shortage of ration supplied to pregnant women, lactating mothers, and nutrition food for children, among others.
The People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) had carried out a survey as the HC had asked it to take feedback on the government’s claims on ensuring supply of ration at the grassroot level during the lockdown.
The Centre for Child and Law (CCL) of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, had conducted an independent rapid assessment of impact of lockdown on food and nutrition security in rural Karnataka by interviewing 152 persons from five districts over telephone.
A special Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, which went through the survey reports, specifically directed the government to respond on the issue of closure of ration shops in some areas as indicated in the report of PUCL. Counsel for PUCL, Clifton D’Rozario, pointed out to the Bench that though a food delivery service is in place, there is a wide disparity in the quantity of ration being provided to the beneficiaries. Senior Counsel Jayna Kothari, appearing for CCL, pointed out from the report that the tollfree number is not functional and the entire system of monitoring and grievance redressal under the National Food Security (NFS) Act, 2013, has collapsed at a time when its need is paramount.
Noting these aspects, the Bench directed the government to state whether the monitoring and grievance redressal under NFS Act has stopped functioning and whether the State Food Commission is not functioning proactively to monitor service delivery under the NFS Act as pointed out in the report of the CCL.
The Bench also directed the government to look into the recommendations made in the CCL report under three broad categories — the immediate relief through schemes and services, the health and social security, and the long-term measures for sustainable food and nutrition security.
Meanwhile, the Bench directed the government to specify in what manner, the district administration acts after receiving the details of the calls received on the hunger helpline, which is mainly Bengaluru city-centric.
The government has also been directed to submit the district-wise data of the calls received by hunger helpline and the action taken by the district administrations on the basis of the calls transferred to them from the helpline.
