The Supreme Court recently sought the central government's response on a plea regarding the cancellation of three crore ration cards for not linking them with Aadhaar cards.
Ration card is an official document issued by state governments in India to households.
The Household should be eligible to purchase subsidized food grain under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
They also serve as a common form of identification for many Indians.
Under the NFSA, all state governments have to identify eligible households under the Public Distribution System and provide them with ration cards.
The petition was filed by Koili Devi, whose 11-year-old daughter died on September 28, 2017.
The child died allegedly after the ration card of her family was cancelled for not being linked to Aadhaar.
The Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre on such allegations. During that time, the Centre had denied the allegations and said that the cancelled cards were bogus.
If the Centre had cancelled around three-crore ration cards of tribal and poor people solely because they could not get biometrically linked with Aadhaar.
The Supreme Court has said that it will hear the matter and has asked the Centre to respond in four weeks.
The SC has sought a report on the implementation of the grievances redressal mechanism. It is contained in Sections 14, 15 and 16 of the National Food Security Act, 2013.
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels. GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger.
India ranked 94 among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2020 and is in the 'serious' hunger category with a score of 27.2, according to report released on Friday. India's rank was 102 out of 117 countries last year.
The events of 2020 are laying bare many of the vulnerabilities of the world’s food system in ways that are becoming impossible to ignore. However, by taking an integrated approach to health and food and nutrition security, it may yet be possible to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.
