The Supreme Court decided today to schedule an urgent hearing on a petition asking the court to order all states and union territories (UTs) to devise a plan to establish community kitchens across the country to address hunger and malnutrition. Lawyer Ashima Mandla persuaded a bench consisting of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justices Surya Kant, and Hima Kohli that the matter becomes more relevant in light of the continuing Covid epidemic in the nation.
“I was headed the bench that had issued a notice on it,” the Chief Justice of India stated when setting the hearing date for the PIL for October 27. Six states were fined an extra 5 lakh apiece by the Supreme Court on February 17 last year for failing to file their affidavits on the PIL, which demanded the development of a program to set up communal kitchens for the underprivileged.
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Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Goa, and Delhi were all charged 5 lakh each. The bench directed Ashima Mandla, representing the PIL petitioners, to create a chart listing all of the states that have submitted responses to the PIL. She stated that 69 percent of children under the age of five die due to starvation and that it is past time for states to establish community kitchens.
On October 18, 2019, the Supreme Court favored the establishment of communal kitchens, stating that the country requires such a system to combat hunger. It had sent notifications to the Centre and all states, requesting replies to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking instructions to all states and union territories (UTs) to develop a community kitchen program to address hunger and malnutrition.
According to the petition, many children under the age of five die every day as a result of starvation and malnutrition, according to the petition, and this situation violates many fundamental rights, including citizens’ right to food and life. The petition, brought by social activists Anun Dhawan, Ishann Dhawan, and Kunjana Singh, also asked the Supreme Court to force the Centre to establish a national food grid for individuals who do not qualify for the public distribution system. It also asked for an order for the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) to develop a plan to reduce hunger-related fatalities.
According to the petition, the state-funded community kitchens in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Delhi offer meals at reduced rates in sanitary settings. The petition also mentioned soup kitchens, meal centers, food kitchens, and community kitchens in various nations, giving food to the poor for free or at below-market prices.
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According to the petition, the Centre and its different ministries have launched and executed many plans to address hunger, malnutrition, and the consequent famine, however effective execution of the schemes has been “unclear and rather restricted” in practice. The plea claims that statistics on starvation deaths in the country are unavailable, and that starvation as a cause of death can only be determined after death through autopsy, and that global agencies report that more than three lakh children die every year in India due to hunger, with 38% of children under the age of five stunted.
“State-funded community kitchens or public-private partnerships (PPPs) in conjunction with corporate social responsibility may be created to supplement existing programmes,” it added. “Article 21 establishes that the right to life does not imply mere existence, but life with dignity,” the petition said. “However, in the current dire situation, the Centre and state governments, as well as ministries, have failed to meet their obligations for effectively providing food security in the country,” it added.
