SC summons Telangana CS over food security

New Delhi: A two-member Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Ramana here on Wednesday issued notices to the Chief Secretaries of Telangana and AP along with Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and five other states, to appear before it on April 28 for their failure to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and for not implementing farmer-friendly measures directed by the Supreme Court.

The Apex court had earlier hit the reset button on drought management, directing the government to abandon the existing system and evolve a transparent, rules-based framework in the PIL filed by Swaraj Abhiyan members, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.

“There is no need to continue with colonial methods and manuals that follow a colonial legacy,” the past order said, driving home the gravity of the situation to policymakers, as more than a quarter of the country’s population continues to be affected by drought.

Prescribing this paradigm shift in drought monitoring and management, the apex court rapped state governments for showing an “ostrich-like attitude” and denying reality. The apex court mandated the formulation of a national plan.

Further, it asked the centre to use modern technology for early determination of drought and take into account humanitarian factors such as migration, suicides and the plight of women and children while formulating policies.

“The problem is not lack of resources or capability, but the lack of will,” said the bench comprising justices Madan B. Lokur and N.V. Ramana, quoting freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the opening lines of the judgment.