The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday asked whether money received from the government treasury should be used to build housing, health and educational facilities for the poor, or to lay cycle tracks in the country. A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan, while hearing the petition regarding construction of cycle track, said that the level of development in the country is not uniform.
The bench asked the petitioner’s counsel, “Should the money from the government treasury be used to create residential and educational facilities for the poor or for this (to build a cycle track)?” The Court also said that “there is a serious problem of housing facilities for the poor in all major cities. People are living in slums. There is lack of health and educational facilities. Should all these primary facilities be provided or these cycle tracks?”
The court referred to the petitioner’s request and wondered whether such relief could be granted. The bench said, “You want separate cycle tracks to be built all over India. It is very ambitious.” The petitioner’s counsel said that many states have cycle tracks and there is such a track outside one of the gates of the apex court, but it is not available at the turn.
Referring to the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, the lawyer said that the scheme focuses on infrastructure development in selected cities and towns. “How can we issue such an order (to create separate cycle tracks) is a daydream of the petitioner,” the bench said.
Citing the issue of pollution in Delhi-NCR, the lawyer said that having a cycle track can help in reducing the problem. The bench has fixed February 10 for further hearing in the matter.
