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Activists reject “minimalist” framework of Food Security Bill by Gargi Parsai

NAC failed to address hunger and malnutrition: Right to Food Campaign

Current proposals only offer window-dressing to present Targeted Public Distribution System

Arguments suggesting lack of resources cannot be accepted, wrote Campaign members

The Right to Food Campaign activists are “extremely disappointed” with the recommendations of the National Advisory Council (NAC) on the proposed Food Security Bill and have said they would continue their struggle for a Comprehensive Food Security Act.

Urging the NAC to “reconsider” its decisions, the Campaign said that the main objective of the proposals seems to be to minimise the budgetary and foodgrains burden of the [proposed] Bill rather than ensure food security for all citizens. “We reject the minimalist framework that has failed to address the situation of hunger and malnutrition in the country.”

The NAC at its meeting last month had proposed a legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains for at least 75 per cent of the population, translating into 90 per cent of the rural and 50 per cent of the urban populations in two categories of households -- ‘priority' and ‘general'.

“The recommendations only deal with a cereal-based targeted Public Distribution System, which is a far cry from the comprehensive approach required to truly ensure food security for all. Arguments suggesting lack of resources cannot be accepted, when on the other hand, the same government provides tax exemptions and rebates of over Rs.5 lakh crores (in 2009-2010) majorly to the corporate sector,” the Campaign members have said in a letter written to NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the members.

“By not announcing universal entitlements as ordered by the Supreme Court for various schemes the NAC has shown little commitment for those who suffer most from chronic hunger such as children, pregnant women, old persons, disabled, homeless and others,” they said.

It has completely moved away from the idea of universalisation. The current proposals only offer some window-dressing to the present TPDS.

On the constraints on the availability of foodgrains, the Campaign maintained that the quantum of foodgrains required for universal PDS could be made possible with a comprehensive Food Security Bill that took into consideration issues related to production, procurement and distribution together.

“By proposing to continue with the system of falsely dividing the population into Below Poverty Line and Above Poverty Line, albeit with different names (‘priority' and ‘general') the NAC has failed to seize the current opportunity of a proposed Food Security Bill in the context of sustained economic growth and overflowing food stocks, for the benefit of the millions of hungry and malnourished people. There is no reason to expect that the existing problems with identification and the large-scale exclusion errors in the form of many deserving poor being left out will be resolved with these new proposals,” the Campaign said.

The signatories to the letter include Annie Raja (National Federation for Indian Women), Anuradha Talwar and Madhuri Krishnaswamy (New Trade Union Initiative), Arun Gupta (Breast Feeding Promotion Network of India), Arundhati Dhuru (National People's Movement of India), Ashok Bharti (National Conference of Dalit Organisations), Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey (National Campaign for People's Right to Information), Asha Mishra and Vinod Raina (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti), Colin Gonsalves (Human Rights Law Network), Kavita Srivastava (People's Union for Civil Liberties), Mira Shiva and Vandana Prasad (Jan Swasthya Abhiyan), Paul Diwakar (National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights),  Subhash Bhatnagar (National Campaign Committee for Unorganized Sector workers) and V.B. Rawat.