SWARAJ ABHIYAN-IV Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In three earlier decisions concerning the prevailing drought or drought-like situation, we had stressed the obligation of the Government of India complying with all the provisions of the laws enacted by Parliament, namely, the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the National Food Security Act, 2013 and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005. This will, of necessity, require establishing and constituting bodies and authorities provided for by law and making available the necessary finances for implementing and abiding by the law. The State cannot say that it is not bound to follow the law and cannot adhere to statutory provisions enacted by Parliament and create a smokescreen of a lack of finances or some other cover-up. The rule of law binds everyone, including the State.

(2.) In this decision, we concern ourselves with the remaining substantive issues raised by the petitioner Swaraj Abhiyan.

(3.) The grievance of Swaraj Abhiyan is that the 'Crop Input Advance' or the 'Agricultural Input Subsidy' offered by the Government of India is far too low and in the event of a drought, the monetary relief (compensation or ex gratia) received by a farmer does not even cover the cost of cultivation of crops. Reference is made to the cost of cultivation of some principal crops in India relating to 2015-16 (average 2010-11 to 2012-13) obtained from the Comprehensive Scheme for Studying the Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops in India by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics in the Ministry of Agriculture. By way of illustration, it has been pointed out that in respect of some Kharif crops such as paddy, the cost per hectare is Rs. 42,441; for maize it is Rs. 31,492 per hectare; for jowar it is Rs. 27,292 per hectare; for bajra it is Rs. 19,558 per hectare.