The government today said it was not possible to implement the Supreme Court order which asked the Centre to distribute foodgrain for free to the poor instead of allowing it to rot due to lack of storage facility.
“It’s not possible to implement the Supreme Court order,” Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters here.
He said the apex court “had suggested to either distribute freely or sell at cheaper rates to the poorest of poor. The government cannot distribute foodgrain for free”, but is providing rice and wheat at cheaper rates to the poor.
“We cannot distribute freely. Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) is applicable to the poorest of the poor. We are buying wheat at Rs 16 a kg and distributing at Rs 2 a kg. We are already doing what SC is telling,” he said.
Last week, the Supreme Court had directed the government to distribute foodgrain to the hungry as a measure to overcome the storage problem. “The foodgrain is rotting. You can look after your own people. As part of short-term measure, distribute it to the hungry for free,” the court had said.
The Supreme Court Bench had passed the direction while dealing with a public interest suit filed by the civil rights group People's Union for Civil Liberties on rampant corruption in the public distribution system (PDS), besides rotting of foodgrain in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns.
The Bench had asked the Centre to ensure construction of a big godown in each state, besides separate godowns in different districts and divisions within states and expediting the computerisation process of PDS system to check pilferage and corruption.
FCI, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrain, had stock to the tune of 57.8 million tonnes at the start of the month, against the buffer norm of 31.9 million tonnes.
