The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed states and Union Territories to implement the 'One Nation, One Ration Card' scheme by 31 July, and instructed the Centre to provide free dry ration to migrant workers till the COVID-19 situation abates.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and MR Shah issued a slew of directions on a plea filed by activists Anjali Bharadwaj, Harsh Mander and Jagdeep Chhokar. The plea sought directions to the Centre and states to ensure food security, cash transfers, and other welfare measures for migrant workers, who faced distress due to curfews and lockdowns in various parts of country during the second wave of COVID-19.
The bench noted that the ONORC scheme will allow migrant workers to get ration at the place of their work in other states, as well where their ration cards are not registered.
What is the 'One Nation, One Ration Card' scheme?
The scheme was launched by the Centre as a pilot project in four states in 2019. Its objective is to expand the ambit of the Public Distribution System to empower all beneficiaries to receive subsidised food grains as ration irrespective of which state they are based in the country.
Currently, the PDS requires eligible people to procure ration only from the PDS shops that they are registered in, which is usually their place of residence. Hence, groups like migrant labourers were left out of the system.
However, once the ONORC scheme is operational across the country, people will be able to procure subsidised food grains from any shop in any state because their ration card will be valid across the country.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the nationwide implementation of the scheme will be underway by March 2021.
The aim of the scheme is to ensure that no needy person falls through the gaps of food security granted by the State under the NFSA. It also seeks to cut the instances of corruption and fraud from dealers and middlemen.
Who is eligible?
Every family that is categorised as being Below Poverty Line (BPL) is eligible to receive a ration under the PDS, and by extension, the One Nation, One Ration Card scheme. At least 20 states have agreed to implement the scheme.
Why is such a scheme needed?
The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, which began in March 2020, triggered a nationwide movement of migrant labourers who were seeking to travel back to their home states.
The 'migrant exodus', as it was labelled, was covered extensively by national and international media, and photos showed families walking or cycling for hundreds of kilometres on their way to states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand, among others.
The Centre faced severe criticism for the short-sightedness of imposing a stringent national lockdown, shutting down businesses and economic activities along with public modes of transportation, with four hours' notice on 24 March.
The Union government then announced a slew of welfare measures, including the ONORC scheme.
Despite the situation after the lockdown was imposed in March 2020, migrant workers also faced distress when states imposed local and statewide lockdowns to curb the exponential second wave of COVID-19 in April and May 2021.
"The dynamics may be different this time — packed trains instead of the long walk home, mostly men since many chose to leave families behind in villages — but shutdown anxieties and work restrictions amid the coronavirus surge are leading to panic reverse migration.
"The miserable experience of 2020, the reduced wages amid fresh restrictions and the fears of being caught unawares once more are resulting in the exodus of labourers and daily-wagers from not just Punjab, but also Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi," a report by The Tribune noted.
What are the Supreme Court's instructions?
The bench directed the Centre to develop a portal with the help of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for registration of unorganised sector workers for granting them the benefits of welfare schemes by 31 July.
It also directed the states, UTs to run community kitchens for migrant workers till the COVID pandemic continues.
It asked the Centre to keep allocating foodgrains to the states, UTs for distribution among migrant workers for free till the pandemic situation exists.
The state governments and the UT administrations shall bring a scheme to provide dry ration to migrant workers by 31 July, and such a scheme will remain till COVID situation continues, the top court said.
The bench directed states and UTs to register all establishments and contractors under the Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service Act) 1979.
How has the issue played out in the SC so far?
The activists had filed a plea seeking implementation of welfare measures for migrant workers and the judgement was reserved on 11 June by the bench.
The fresh plea was filed in a pending suo motu case of 2020 in which the top court had in May last year taken cognizance of problems and miseries of migrant labourers. Even then, the court had passed directions including asking the states not to charge travel fare from migrant workers and to provide them food free of cost till they board trains or buses.
The Centre had submitted that while most states were implementing the ONORC, four of them — Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and West Bengal — have not yet integrated into the scheme and it would depend on their technical readiness to implement the portability of ration cards.
The Centre also said that the AAP government's claim regarding the launch of ONORC plan is misleading, as a large number of migrant workers are unable to benefit from the subsidised National Food Security Act (NFSA) food grains in Delhi because of the "lack of proper implementation".
The activists had sought directions to the Centre and states to ensure food security, cash transfers, transport facilities and other welfare measures for the migrant workers on grounds that they are in dire need for help as the crisis is bigger this time.
On 24 May this year, the top court had termed as "very slow" the process of registration of unorganised workers and had directed the authorities to provide dry ration and make operational community kitchens for migrant workers stranded throughout the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Referring to the resurgence of COVID-19 infections and consequent curbs, the activists had said that the problems and miseries faced by migrant workers during the lockdown in 2020 have persisted over the past year due to the continued economic distress, and now have got aggravated on account of fresh restrictions, curfews and lockdowns being imposed in many states to control the spread of COVID.
With inputs from agencies
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