Supreme Court Demands Swift Verification of Migrant Labourers for Ration Cards

The Supreme Court criticized several states for delays in verifying migrant labourers for ration card issuance and directed them to complete the process within four weeks. The court also instructed the Centre to release food grains to states that have completed verification. Bihar and Telangana are the only states with 100% verification.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticized several states for delays in verifying migrant labourers registered on the e-shram portal for ration card issuance and ordered them to finish the process within four weeks.

The court further directed the Centre to release food grains to states that have completed the verification.

A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah termed the delay as 'unfortunate,' warning that states failing to meet the deadline would face summons for their secretaries.

Notably, only Bihar and Telangana have achieved 100% verification.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners, revealed that while some states completed verification, others haven't started.

The top court emphasized the urgency, noting the previous directive to provide ration cards within two months following the April 20, 2023 order, had not been met.

The court mandated the issuance of ration cards regardless of National Food Security Act quotas and set an August 27 hearing date for the matter.

Petitioners Anjali Bhardwaj, Harsh Mander, and Jagdeep Chhokkar had appealed for the ration provision for migrant workers, underscoring their crucial role in nation-building and the need for their rights to be protected.

(With inputs from agencies.)