National Food Security Act not implemented as it should be: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on 21 July 2017 ruled that the National Food Security (NFS) Act, 2013 has not been implemented properly and has been postponed by various states. Taking this into account, the court passed a slew of directions for effective implementation of provisions of the NFS Act, 2013.

The ruling was made by a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and N V Ramana who directed that the secretary of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs should organize one or more meetings on or before 31 August 2017 to take stock of the implementation of the Act.

It also mentioned that a law enacted by Parliament must be given its due respect and must be implemented faithfully.

Highlights of the ruling
• The court asked the secretary of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to think over finding ways and means to effectively implement the provisions of the NFS Act, 2013 in 'letter and spirit'.

• It said that every State and Union Territory should notify appropriate rules for a grievance redressal mechanism under the Act.

• It also said that states should designate appropriate and independent officials as the district grievance redressal officer within a fixed timeframe.

• Adequate publicity should be given to the appointment and designation of district grievance redressal officers so that upset person could approach them without any fear.

• The states and Union territories should establish State Food Commissions under the Act and make them fully functional before the year end.

• Each state should ensure that adequate arrangements are made to provide infrastructure, staff and other facilities for the meaningful functioning of state food commissions.

• It also mentioned that states should establish a functioning vigilance committee in terms of section 29 of the NFS Act, 2013 for the purposes of carrying out the duties and responsibilities mentioned in that section.