Relief for state govt; Supreme Court stays order cancelling Nava Kerala survey

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has stayed the order of the Kerala High Court cancelling the Nava Kerala survey. The court asked what was wrong with the Nava Kerala survey. The court observed that the government has the right to examine how welfare schemes are reaching the people and to collect information.

The plea was considered by a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant. The court sent notices to the opposing parties in the case. The Supreme Court also said that states can conduct such inspections to improve the schemes.

The decision to conduct the survey was taken to find out bow the people assess the achievements of the administration in the last ten years. The expenditure was allocated at Rs 20 crore. However, the high court cancelled the survey on the basis that the government's action was not in accordance with the rules. The high court had pointed out that there was no budget allocation or financial sanction. The state government subsequently approached the Supreme Court. The government, pointing out that the Nava Kerala survey was a policy decision of the government, asked in the petition how the high court could cancel it.