Miscellaneous

Supreme Court orders States to pull head out of sand

Swaraj Abhiyan – (I) v. Union of India & ors.

11.05.2016

Aghast by States’ failure to acknowledge drought conditions in parts of the country, in a series of orders, the Supreme Court ordered updating of the administrative and operational framework for drought relief.

In a series of orders the court showered opprobrium on the central government, for being a “mute spectator”, but saved its harshest criticism for States, particularly those that have dragged their feet in citizen welfare in recent times of drought.

The court noted that though disaster relief was to be disbursed by State governments, relief itself would be released by the Central government. It recorded failures in the implementation of the National Food Security Act 2013, which despite being central legislation has been effected only partially in most States.

However, it stopped short of ordering additional welfare measures for persons residing in drought-hit areas. Calls, for instance, to include lentils and edible oils under the NFS Act were dismissed; though it did agree with submissions that States providing food aid should include eggs, milk or alternative foods that provide sufficient calorific value.

Similar were observations regarding rural employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee schemes. Greater vigil of disbursement of funds and monitoring the effectiveness of programmes undertaken were called for.

The court opined improvements in proactive drought relief and disaster management, above all updates to the Drought Management Manual. It suggested attributing weightage to indicators, such as crop sown and rainfall deficit; introducing a time limit for declaring drought; and a convergence of nomenclature, which at present varies widely between States.

National Disaster Management Authority

Relevant

Swaraj Abhiyan - (II) v. Union of India & Ors. Swaraj Abhiyan - (III) v. Union of India & Ors. Swaraj Abhiyan - (IV) v. Union of India & Ors.

Tags : Drought management manual disaster food security nrega

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