New Delhi, Dec 16: Moved by a news item in a TV channel showing starving farmers eating rats in Thanjavur area brought to its notice by a PIL, the Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government. A bench comprising Justice V N Khare and Justice S B Sinha issued the notices after senior advocate Ashwini Kumar in his personal capacity stated that the incident had shocked him as it portrayed the pitiable condition of the farmers in Tamil Nadu's Cauvery delta region.
"The report by in private news channel in August this year highlighted the pitiable condition of the farmers in Tamil Nadu's Cauvery delta region who, faced with starvation and malnutrition, had to resort to eating rats in order to survive, while painfully awaiting the Central government's promised relief package of Rs 164 crores, announced over two months ago to tackle the drought like situation in the state," Kumar said in his petition.
Bringing to court's notice that it was seized of similar matters relating to starvation deaths in other states, the petitioner requested the court to direct the state government and other authorities to take appropriate steps to ensure that people's basic right to live with dignity, enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution, was not violated. Bureau Report