The Bombay high court on Thursday issued a notice to the Central government after the state informed the court that its request to increase the ceiling limit of below poverty line (BPL) families for distribution of foodgrains in Maharashtra hasn’t been agreed upon.
A division bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice M.S. Sonak was hearing an affidavit filed by the principal secretary of the Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies department in reply to a public interest litigation (PIL).
The state’s affidavit states that about 26.69 lakh households required to be added to the list of BPL ration cardholders. “Therefore, the government felt that without disturbing the the existing BPL card holders, the additional households should also be considered for issuing the BPL ration cards,” it states. It further states that the total number of ration card holders in the state has gone up to 93.83 lakh, as against the Centre’s approved ceiling limit of 65.34 lakh families.
The HC had directed the principal secretary to file a reply in relation to the distribution of the food distribution scheme, which was reported by this newspaper on July 19. “The petition concerns the lack of even basic facilities to the primitive tribal groups in the matter of supply of foodgrains. We are constrained to take serious note of the complete lack of seriousness of the state government in attending to the issues raised in these proceedings and would have been inclined to adopt stringent measures for non-compliance,” said the then bench comprising Justice Chandrachud and Justice S.C. Gupte on July 19. The affidavit also sought the court’s appreciation as it stated that the National Food Security Bill was introduced in December, 2011 and hence the concept of BPL households will not remain relevant in the near future.