Aishwarya Rathore –
Published on: August 25, 2021, at 11:45 IST
The Orissa High Court directed the State Government to provide information on social audits for all schemes implemented in Orissa under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) till November 1.
The Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA) to ensure that the NFSA is properly implemented in the State in 2019.
On Monday, the Court issued the direction after examining an affidavit provided by the Additional Secretary, State Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department.
The Court emphasised in an order issued on Tuesday that the District Grievance Redressal Officer’s (DGRO) scope of power includes monitoring the implementation of all schemes.
The Court stated, “The DGRO also investigates violations of entitlement not only in the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) but also in other schemes such as the Mid-day meal scheme, the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), the Maintainability Benefit Programme (MBP), and any other scheme for NFSA implementation.”
The Division Bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray ordered the State Government to produce an affidavit detailing the social audit done for the implementation of all schemes, not limited to TPDS.
The affidavit should include statistics on the functioning of the DGROs from June 1 to October 31, 2021.
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