Directs centre to call meeting of state secretaries before 31 August
By Amrit Pal Singh Brar
Bathinda: 23 July, 2017: Supreme Court of India on Friday reprimanded the Union Government and State Governments for not implementing the National Food Security Act properly in its true spirit.
A two Judge Bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and NV Ramana has also issued a set of directions for the effective implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 in a petition filed by Advocate Prashant Bhushan for Swaraj Abhiyan.
Briefing about the judgement, prominent advocate & Convenor of Swaraj Abhiyan, Prashant Bhushan said “that it is unfortunate that even though the NFS Act has been in force for about four years, only a few of the State Governments before us had taken its provisions seriously”. The court has issued several directions to the centre in this regard, he said.
The Court observed that the Government of India cannot plead helplessness in requiring State Governments to implement parliamentary laws. The Court also observed that it had expected the concerned State Governments to implement the provisions of the NFS Act with all due seriousness since it is a social welfare legislation enacted by Parliament.
What is State Food Commission?
Section 16 of the NFS Act mandates the State Government to constitute a State Food Commission for the purpose of monitoring and review of implementation of the NFS Act. But some of the State Governments had appointed the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission constituted under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as the State Food Commission under Section 16 of the NFS Act. The Court held that this was unsatisfactory and not in consonance with the provisions of the law particularly the letter and spirit of the NFS Act.
The court has directed the central government to instruct the Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of the Government of India should convene one or more meetings on or before 31st August, 2017 of the concerned Secretaries of all the State Governments and Union Territories to take stock of the implementation of the NFS Act and brainstorm over finding ways and means to effectively implement the provisions of the NFS Act in letter and spirit. A law enacted by Parliament as a part of its social justice obligation must be given its due respect and must be implemented faithfully and sincerely and positively before the end of this year.
The court also directed that the Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of the Government of India should emphatically request and commend to every State Government and Union Territory to notify appropriate rules for a Grievance Redressal Mechanism under the provisions of the NFS Act and designate appropriate and independent officials as the District Grievance Redressal Officer within a fixed time frame and in any case within this year. Adequate publicity should be given to the appointment and designation of District Grievance Redressal Officers so that any aggrieved person can approach them without any fear and with the expectation that the grievance will be redressed.