SC blasts Pawar for ignoring free grains order

Taking strong exception to agriculture and food supply minister Sharad Pawar's statements that free distribution of rotting foodgrains was ''not possible" and that the government was already supplying foodgrains cheaply through public distribution system (PDS) outlets, the Supreme Court today said that its ruling ordering free distribution was an order, and not a suggestion as made out by him.

A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Verma, referring to newspaper reports that the union minister had claimed there was no such order, clarified, ''It was not a suggestion. It is there in our order. You (government counsel) tell the minister.''

Pawar had earlier said, ''The Supreme Court's suggestion (for free grain) is not possible to implement.''

The court also took strong exception to Pawar's statement that sugar prices might rise in near future. The apex court said that statements like these would encourage hoarding of sugar.

The court also directed the union government to conduct a fresh survey of the below poverty line, above poverty line, and Antodya Anna Yojana scheme (BPL, ABPL, and AAY) families on the basis of the figures available for 2010 and restrict PDS distribution only to BPL/AAY families. Pawar had again said earlier that this was not possible. The court said the authorities cannot rely on decade-old data to extend the benefits.

The bench further said that the government must take urgent steps to prevent further rotting of foodgrains, while maintaining that it must procure only that much quantity which it can preserve.