The Bombay high court called the government resolution (GR), pertaining to the distribution and issuance of Antodaya Ann Yojana (AAY) cards to the “poorest of the poor” across the state, completely “wooden”.
The court said that the state food and civil supplies department has not complied with its earlier order and the court is inclined to hold it as contempt. The court asked the department to submit a report within a week and directed the principal secretary of the department to submit an affidavit on or before the next hearing on August 2.
The high court division bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and S.C. Gupte was of the view that the state did nothing with regard to its previous directions. “How many people have you enrolled under the AAY scheme? How many camps have been held since the last order was passed? What is the quantity of foodgrains distributed?” asked Justice Chandrachud. The state, in its reply through its advocate, failed to give any satisfactory reply.
The AAY cards are a subset of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards issued in areas where primitive tribal groups reside across the state. Under the scheme, the “poorest of the poor” are entitled to avail 35 kilos of foodgrains in a month. However, due to the callousness of the state, as pointed out by the court, the tribals have been deprived of the benefit of the AAY status.
The bench observed that there was no compliance whatsoever with its earlier order, and observed that the scheme in districts like Thane and Raigad, which primarily consist of these groups, should be implemented both in letter and spirit. The Thane tahsildar had submitted an affidavit before the court on January 8 this year that the benefits of AAY are provided by the government to persons whose names appear in the BPL list of 1997.
He had also stated that a list of 2002 was prepared by the block
development officer in respect of BPL persons. However, the list awaits the approval of the government.
The court had then observed that it was “distressing” and the delay in preparation of the list was no justification for depriving the tribal families of the benefits.
The division bench had also noticed in a related order passed on May 3 that the intake of foodgrains even in the BPL category was only a small proportion of what is allotted by the Union government.