The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up Gujarat and several other states for their laxity in implementing the National Food Security Act, reported The Indian Express. “What is Parliament doing? Is Gujarat not a part of India? The Act says it extends to whole of India and Gujarat is not implementing it. You want to break away from India," observed a bench led by Justice Madan B Lokur. "This law was passed by Parliament, but the states are not implementing the central law. How can a state say that it won’t implement the law? Tomorrow another state would say that it won’t follow IPC [Indian Penal Code], CrPC [Criminal Procedure Code]."
Nine states and two Union territories have so far not implemented the social welfare legislation that guarantees 5 kg of food grain per person per month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state caught the apex court's attention as it figured on top of the list of defaulting states. The court has asked the Centre to file a report in this regard by February 10.
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