High Court order to stop poor food supply to Anganwadis

The court also held that food products which do not conform to the specifications and standards of revised nutrition and dietary requirements should not be supplied to Anganwadi centers for any reason.

Chief Justice Rituraj and Justice S Sivagnanam have filed two public petitions filed by Sangeetha Gadagin and two women’s organizations engaged in ICDS activities. R. The Krishnakumar divisional seat has given this mandate.

What is a court order?

The court has directed the government to implement the ICDS project as per its own circular notification dated July 2, 2020, May 5, 2020 and the report of the panel of technical experts of August 19, 2021.

From time to time the Court and the ICDS (Revised Nutrition and Dietary Rules) 2017 are issued by the Central Government. The state government should take care of it, the court said.

The court stated that it was appropriate to implement the ICDS scheme as per the notification dated May 5, 2021 by a committee of technical experts constituted by the state government. This is after a series of reports of poor quality foods being supplied under the ICDS scheme. This notification mandates that women’s supplementary nutrition training centers assigned to prepare and supply nutritious food to Anganwadi centers should seek the help of women self-help groups certified or licensed by the Bureau of Indian Standards for maintaining nutritional quality.

Also, the court pointed out that the status of beneficiaries of the ICDS scheme has worsened significantly due to the Kovid-19 pandemic and should therefore not further delay the supply of nutritious food to the beneficiaries.

Applicants objection:

Applicants unilaterally revoked the notifications issued on May 15 and 20, 2021 and questioned the legality of the May 5, 2021, and July 2, 2020 circular.

The revocation of the circular and notification is completely irrational, non-specific and arbitrary. The petitioners stated that the withdrawal of the order adversely affected the supply of nutritious food to children and pregnant and lactating children.