The Supreme Court Friday asked the Planning Commission if Rs.10 in rural areas and Rs.20 in urban areas was enough to buy eatables to get 2,400 calories per head per day.
The poser came from judges Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma when it was told that the Planning Commission considered that people getting Rs.10 in rural areas and Rs. 20 in cities could not be put in below poverty line (BPL) category.
The court sought the response from the Planning Commission in the course of the hearing of a PIL by the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) seeking streamlining of the public distribution system and supply of subsidized food grains to every one in BPL category.
The court clarified that every child born in a poor family was entitled to get Rs.500 irrespective of whether the child was beyond the two child norm family.
The court also clarified that there can’t be any discrimination on the basis of where the child was born — in the maternity home or at home.
The clarification came in the wake of objection by the Madhya Pradesh government saying that payment should not extend to the third child — so as to encourage two child families.
The court adjourned the hearing on the matter till Augt 17 asking the central and state governments to file their response to another report by the Justice Wadhwa committee on revamping the PDS.
