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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
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Nature of the Case

Despite a Supreme Court order in 2004 directing the state of Maharashtra to serve hot cooked meals prepared by women self-help groups to children attending Anganwadis, the state continued to outsource the supply of Supplemental Nutritional Products (SNP) to large local and non-local corporations, to the detriment of women self-help groups operating within the state. The government’s tender notices contained onerous conditions that outrightly and systematically disqualified smaller groups from participating in the supply of nutrition to children. The Supreme Court ordered the state to decentralize the process to enable local women to participate in the supplying and preparation of SNP for children under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes

The Supreme Court found that the conditions stated in the tender were arbitrarily fixed and in violation of the Court’s previous directives. The Court ruled that the tender conditions were invalid and cancelled the existing contracts awarded to large corporations for supply of the food items under the ICDS at Anganwadi Centers. It further directed the state of Maharashtra to issue fresh tenders under the ICDS within four weeks reflecting the Court’s judgement and to come up with an alternative system to supply rations to children before that time.

Significance of the Case

The history of state-directed and centralized nutrition provision through the ICDS system has been fraught with controversy, with repeated attempts across many states to circumvent the Supreme Court-directed policy of empowering women in local communities and families to meet the nutrition requirements of their mothers and children. This Supreme Court decision serves as a major victory for local women’s groups all over India, as it provides legitimacy to grassroots struggles of women directly impacted by various forms of injustice and systemic disenfranchisement through government policies.

Kirti Karwa, head of a women self-help group in Amravati district, has described the Court’s decision as “a milestone judgement and [the women in her group] are very happy about it.” According to Karwa, most women self-help groups in the state have had no work for over two years, ever since the government made the group ineligible for contracts. The decision has not only the terms of justice but also restored a major source of livelihood for many women who depend on the programme to provide for their families.

For their contributions, special thanks to ESCR-Net members: the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) at Northeastern University.

Groups Involved in the Case