The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Saying that the “hungry cannot wait”, the Supreme Court on Friday (October 4) gave one last chance to the Union government and states to follow its orders to verify and give ration cards to migrant workers and unskilled labourers eligible under the e-Shram portal, and also issue cards to those already verified – irrespective of the states’ upper ceiling of food distribution under the National Food Security Act, 2013 – by November 19, as per LiveLaw.
Lead-up to the order
The top court had taken up suo motu proceedings in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown with regard to the issues faced by migrant workers, and had ordered that governments grant rations to migrant workers.
Later, the court also expanded the scope of the proceedings to include providing ration cards to migrant and unorganised laborers who are registered under the e-Shram portal of the Union government but do not have ration cards, and to those not covered under the National Food Security Act, citing that the right to food is protected under Article 21.
Article 21 of the constitution guarantees the fundamental right to the protection of life and personal liberty, and ensures certain safeguards against their arbitrary deprivation.
As per a report by Newsclick, 28.6 crore migrants and unorganised workers are registered on the e-Shram portal (as of July this year). Of this, 20.63 crore migrants and workers are registered on ration card data.
The rest have been deprived of schemes including the availability of subsidised food grains under the National Food Security Act because they do not have ration cards.
Since 2020, the top court has passed several orders pertaining to issuing ration cards to these sections, and has also rapped the Union and state governments multiple times on their failure to respond to its orders.
On March 19 this year, the top court ordered governments to provide ration cards within two months to the eight crore migrant workers missing from the National Food Security Act database.
In July this year, the Supreme Court called it “atrocious” that the governments had not yet implemented the court’s orders and warned of taking up contempt of court proceedings in this regard.
On September 2, the Supreme Court directed additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati to file a comprehensive affidavit on behalf of the Union government on whether the directions passed by the court had been complied with.
‘We have lost our patience’
On Friday, intervenor advocate Prashant Bhushan told the court that the Union government is not complying with the orders of the court citing Section 9 of the National Food Security Act, which prescribes an upper ceiling. Per the Act, 50% of the urban population and 75% of the rural population shall be given ration cards.
Bhushan said that the Union government was refusing to give additional rations to states that have verified a higher number of persons to be given ration cards, on the grounds that their food quota has reached the upper ceiling, LiveLaw reported.
However, the Supreme Court noted that this would still not restrict giving ration beyond the limit prescribed under the Act. It said that failure to comply with this order would force it to call the secretary of food or the concerned authority from the states to explain the reason for non-compliance, LiveLaw reported.
The court also directed states to file an affidavit regarding whether they have identified eligible persons but not yet given them ration cards.
In its order on October 4, the Supreme Court said that it was restraining itself from issuing contempt notices and that the Union and state governments should take necessary steps to implement its previous orders by November 19, as per a report by PTI.
“We have lost our patience, we are making it very clear that there will be no more indulgence … We are giving you one last window to comply with our order or your secretary will remain present,” PTI quoted the bench as saying.