Supreme Court Orders Provision of Ration Cards to Migrant Workers

New Delhi: The Right to Food Campaign has welcomed the Supreme Court’s order to provide ration cards to migrant and unorganised workers registered under the eShram portal. “The Right to Food Campaign welcomes the Supreme Court’s order to provide ration cards to migrant/unorganised workers registered under the eShram portal,” the press release stated. The order, passed on April 20, 2023, in ‘Re Problems and Miseries of Migrant Labourers’ case, aims to ensure food security for these workers and their families.

Currently, 28.60 crore migrants and unorganised workers are registered on the eShram portal, of which 20.63 crore are registered on ration card data. However, due to the absence of ration cards, many migrant and unorganised labourers and their families have been deprived of subsidised food grains and other schemes under the National Food Security Act.

To address this issue, the Supreme Court has directed all State and Union Territory (UT) governments to issue ration cards under the National Food Security Act to the 8 crore people registered on the eShram portal but does not possess ration cards.

The Right to Food Campaign has demanded that all states and union territories immediately undertake the exercise to issue ration cards to 8 crore migrant and unorganised sector workers registered on e-shram but do not possess a ration card. The campaign has also called for universal access to the Public Distribution System (PDS) for all migrant and unorganised sector workers without putting in place multi-fold and complex inclusion/exclusion criteria, including any income criteria.

It is important to note that the coverage under the National Food Security Act was to be updated as per the latest published census figures. However, as the census of 2021 has been postponed indefinitely and no date has been notified regarding the publication of the same, more than 10 crore people who should have been issued ration cards have been left out of the purview of the food security net.

The Right to Food Campaign has emphasised that these persons are among the most economically vulnerable sections of society and must be included under the ambit of the National Food Security Act.

This decision by the Supreme Court is expected to provide relief to millions of migrant and unorganised workers struggling to make ends meet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.