NEW DELHI, 12 FEB

The Supreme Court on Wednesday deprecated the practice of announcing freebies prior to elections, and said people were not willing to work as they were getting free ration and money.

The observations came from a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih which was hearing a matter concerning the right to shelter of homeless persons in urban areas.

"Unfortunately, because of these freebies... the people are not willing to work. They are getting free rations. They are getting amount without doing any work," Justice Gavai observed.

"We quite appreciate your concern for them but would it not be better to make them a part of the mainstream of society and permit them to contribute to the development of the nation," the bench said.

Attorney General R Venkataramani told the bench that the Centre was in the process of finalising the urban poverty alleviation mission, which would address various issues, including the provision of shelter for the urban homeless.

The bench asked the Attorney General to verify from the Centre as to within how much time the urban poverty alleviation mission would be made applicable.

The top court posted the matter for hearing after six weeks.