क्या बाली में एक हार की शुरुआत हुई है?

सचिन जैन

मैं यहाँ हार-जीत का शब्द इस्तेमाल नहीं करता; पर जिस तरह डब्ल्यूटीओ की बाली बैठक में अमेरिका-यूरोपीय यूनियन के नेतृत्व में साम-दाम-दंड-भेद का खेल दुनिया की सरकारों ने खेला; उसमे तो हार-जीत का पुट है. प्रथम दृष्टया यह नज़र आता है कि वहां भारत सरकार जीत गयी, पर भारत के किसान और राष्ट्रीय खाद्य सुरक्षा क़ानून के हकदार हार गए. सवाल यह भी खड़ा हो गया है कि कुछ देशों का समूह (जी-33) एक साथ अपनी मांगें लेकर बाली गए थे, पर ऐसा लगता है कि आखिर में भारत और अमेरिका आमने-सामने बैठ कर समझौता करने लगे. एक मायने में क्या हम अपनी ईमानदार कूटनीतिक छवि के साथ भी समझौता नहीं कर आये? 3 से 6 दिसम्बर 2013 के दौरान जो हुआ, उसे इस देश के हर व्यक्ति को अभी ही जान लेना आवश्यक है; क्योंकि अगले अबसे पांचवे साल में इसका असर दिखने लगेगा जब सरकार खाद्य सुरक्षा पर अपने खर्चे को कम करने के लिए बाध्य होगी.

डब्ल्यूटीओ में भारत को झुकना क्यों नहीं चाहिए था..

सचिन जैन

इंडोनेशिया के बाली द्वीप पर 3 से 6 दिसम्बर 2013 तक विश्व व्यापार संगठन की बैठक हुई. दुनिया में भोजन के व्यापार और भोजन के अधिकार के सन्दर्भ में इस बैठक के कुछ कूटनीतिक महत्त्व भी थे. डब्ल्यूटीओ को अस्तित्व में आये अब बीस वर्ष होने जा रहे हैं, पर अब तक सभी 160 सदस्य देशों के बीच वैश्विक व्यपार के लिए एक भी सर्वसम्मत समझौता नहीं हो पाया है. कारण – अमेरिका और यूरोपीय यूनियन ऐसे अनुबंध करवाना चाहते हैं, जिनसे पूरी दुनिया में उनके उत्पाद और उत्पादकों का नियंत्रण हो जाए. उनके लिए डब्ल्यूटीओ दूसरे देशों को अपना आर्थिक उपनिवेश बनाने का जरिया है.

Amma Restaurants of Tamil Nadu Panacea for Urban Food Insecurity?

S Rajendran(Economic and Political Weekly)

The Tamil Nadu state government has started 283 subsidised restaurants - amma unavagams - in nine urban centres. This initiative has been a hit with a wide spectrum of urban consumers. However, the majority of the patrons seem to be the working urban poor. These initiatives have been accused of being "populist" but this model of providing affordable cooked food in urban areas promises to not only ensure food security but also keep food prices in check.

खाद्य सुरक्षा के व्यापार में हमने क्या बेंचा?

सचिन जैन

डब्ल्यूटीओ की बाली बैठक में ६ दिसम्बर २०१३ को जिस समझौते के किये भारत सरकार राज़ी हो गयी, वह समझौता साफ़ संकेत देता है कि प्रभावशाली कूटनीतिक पूँजी की ताकत से सामने हम झुक गए. अब न तो भारत आसानी से न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य बढ़ा सकेगा, न ही खाद्य सुरक्षा कार्यक्रमों का ज्यादा विस्तार कर सकेगा. इतना ही नहीं बाली समझौते के मुताबिक अब उसे सभी जानकारियाँ विकसित देशों को देना होंगी. वास्तविकता यह है कि हमारी सरकार अब भी यह तय नहीं कर पा रही है कि विकसित देशों के लाभ के लिए हम अपनी ताकत यानी खेती को दाँव पर क्यों लगा रहे हैं? खेती और खाद्य रियायत पर समझौता करने का मतलब था ६५ करोड किसानों और खाद्य सुरक्षा क़ानून के ८७ करोड लोगों के हकों को सीमित करने की शुरुआत; क्योंकि इस क़ानून के लागू होते ही खेती को दी जाने वाली सब्सिडी कृषि उत्पादन के १० फीसदी हिस्से से ऊपर निकल जाना निश्चित है. इस मामले पर बाली की बैठक शुरू होने के पहले ही जब भारत सरकार को डब्ल्यूटीओ से इन प्रस्तावित समझौता प्रावधानों का प्रारूप मिला, तभी से यह बहस शुरू हो गयी थी कि हमारी सरकार क्या इस बिंदु (जिसे पीस क्लाज़ कहा जा रहा था) के लिए सहमत होगी?

Government Cracks Whip on Delays in NREGA Payments, Rs 5.17Lakhs Paid as Pending Wages and Compensation to Khunti Workers

Khunti (26 November 2013): In August this year, the Jharkhand Labour Commission passed a landmark order awarding compensation of Rs 2,000 per worker for delay and non-payment of wages in a work done under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme of Murhigram panchayat in Khunti block. A total of 91 workers were paid pending wages and compensation money, amounting to a total of Rs5.17 lakhs.Of the 91 workers, 79 workers came to the Khunti block office today to receive the money. Four workers had died since working and the rest eight have either migrated in search of work or could not come because of ill health. Their money was collected by their family members. The compensation amount was recovered from the Block Development Officer, Block Programme Officer, RozgarSevak and Panchayat Sevak.

India Blinks Under US Pressure at WTO Ministerial in Bali.

India has wilted under pressure from the US and agreed to accept conditionalities that were not part of the G-33 proposal. The text of the agreed draft can be accessed below (see section WT/ MIN 913)/ W / 10 - Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes):

The text and the various parts to the declaration:

What India has traded away:

1.Anand Sharma had unambiguously stated that the "peace clause" should be in place till such time that a permanent solution is found. The word "interim" that he had used IS IN the text (a clear victory), but in what is being described by the WTO Secretariat as "constructive ambiguity" the US position that it should be only for four years also finds its place (Para 1) in the text by adding, "for adoption by the 11th Ministerial Conference" (there is a WTO Ministerial once every two years and Bali was the 9th Ministerial. (Some experts though are interpreting it as being in India's favour since "interim" can be interpreted as holding on till a permanent settlement is found irrespective of the reference to the 11th Ministerial).

Right to Food Campaign, organized a consultation on food security and local level livelihood resources on 20^th Nov, 2013 in the office of community health and development programme, Madhepura. Participants discussed findings of the study of food security schemes in the district in February, 2013, various provisions of The Food Security Act, vision of the Right to Food campaign, problems affecting Agriculture and farmers, land reforms and corruption in the existing welfare schemes. Around twenty five participants were present there. Important participants, among others, were Ritwij Kumar, Joseph Marandi, Hemant Kumar Yadav, Jai kumar, Akhilesh Saha, Alok kumar Nayak and Pankaj Kumar. Ram lagan Nirala presided over the meeting. The consultation started around 11 AM and concluded at 4 PM.

Global Civil Society letter to Director-General of the WTO

To,

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Member States

Do not Dilute G 33 Proposal: Address Imbalance in Global Agricultural Subsidies Rules, Support Public Stockholding for Guaranteeing Livelihoods and Food Consumption of the Poor at Bali WTO Ministerial.

We, as members of the global civil society, urge the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Roberto Azevedo, and member states, to take the issue of food security in developing countries as a matter of serious and immediate concern, and not to render the G-33 proposal on public food stockholding a travesty by asking developing countries to agree to the current text on the peace clause.

Across the developing world, millions of people, most of them poor, still do not have basic and minimum access to food. According to the FAO, 868 million were undernourished in 2011-12, of them 304 million in South Asia and 234 million in Sub Saharan Africa. Even more disturbing is the fact that nearly 3.1 million children under the age of 5 die each year because of poor nutrition (Hunger Statistics, World Food Program 2013).

Right to Food Campaign urges the government to safeguard food sovereignty and food security for all Indians while negotiating at the WTO Bali Ministerial Conference

Press Release

We urge Government of India to safeguard food sovereignty and food security for all Indians while negotiating at the WTO Bali Ministerial – Protect farmer’s livelihoods and expanded PDS

The Right to Food campaign will also take this issue up with Indian Parliamentarians asking them to raise this in the Parliament as this affects the livelihoods of our farmers and our ability
to fight against hunger

Production, procurement, storage and distribution are all important components of ensuring food security. Unfortunately, in the National Food Security Act (NFSA) the Government took a minimalistic view by focussing only on distribution despite the demands by many for a comprehensive law. Even the minimal entitlements for food given under the NFSA are now under threat because it is claimed that the public procurement to the extent of the foodgrain requirements of the NFSA violate the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) that India is a part of. Although the NFSA is being blamed, the allocation under the NFSA is only about 3 million tonnes higher than the current amount. This WTO Agreement can be used as an excuse to dismantle or weaken the PDS and replace it with cash transfers.

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Human Rights Bodies like National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commission has been constituted to protect human rights of the people in the country. As per Protection of Human Rights Act,1993, these statutory bodies are required to hear the complaint cases relating to violation of human rights and give justice to the victims by directing appropriate authority to take action against the law violator and awarding compensation to the affected persons. But the callousness and indifferent attitude of these bodies has endangered the life and livelihood of the common people and standing as stumbling block for protection of human rights. I cite herewith few examples in this regard.

Photo:Forbes India

EPW: K R Antony,Yogesh Jain ,Samir Garg

An efficient public distribution system (PDS) is a life support extended by the State to people living below the poverty line, which, the way it is officially defined, is more like a “starvation line”.

Many states have been supplying essential food items and kerosene to poor households through the PDS with varying degrees of success but supply of only wheat/rice, iodised salt and sugar alone is not adequate to meet the nutrition needs of the people.

India Matters: Bihar - A reality check

Mahadalits is a term coined by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the poorest and most marginalized among Dalits. 21 castes are included in the Mahadalit category, ostensibly for their socio- economic development and for better targetting of government schemes. Bihar has also become the first state to set up a Mahadalit Development Commission. Some view this as Nitish Kumar's attempt to carve out a voter base of his own. But the chief minister says the development of Mahadalits is at the top of his priorities and that his vision of development is an inclusive one. The chief minister has flaunted economic data to show how effective policies and governance have created a resurgent Bihar. But how do these claims translate on the ground, particularly for those at the centre of the state's politics?

Wasted food for thought

The Hindu

That one-third of the food produced annually for human consumption is wasted is in itself unconscionable in a world where 870 million, or one in eight people, go hungry every day. A United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation report now says that this high volume of wastage that occurs right through the food supply chain exerts an adverse impact on land, water, biodiversity and climate change. This impact is in addition to the green house gas emissions that are known to result from current patterns of food production, processing, marketing and consumption associated with global commercial flows.

क्या है राष्ट्रीय खाद्य सुरक्षा कानून

1.प्रस्‍तावनाएं

यह कानून पूरे देश में 5 जुलाई 2013 से लागू माना जाएगा। (यह वही तारीख है, जिस दिन राष्‍ट्रीय खाद्य सुरक्षा अध्‍यादेश लागू हुआ था)

2.हकदारियां

सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली (पीडीएस)

प्राथमिकता वाले परिवारों को प्रति व्‍यक्‍ति पांच किलो अनाज हर महीने।
अंत्‍योदय परिवार को महीने में 35 किलो राशन।
दोनों को पात्र परिवार मानते हुए 75 प्रतिशत ग्रामीण और 50 प्रतिशत शहरी जनसंख्‍या को कानून के दायरे में लाया गया है।
इन्‍हें पीडीएस से 3 रु किलो चावल, 2 रु किलो गेहूं और 1 रुपए किलो के हिसाब से बारीक अनाज मिलेगा।

The Asian Age

The National Food Security Bill, passed by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, marks an important chapter in our struggle to end hunger through appropriate social protection. It is the world’s largest programme for achieving the goal of zero hunger.

Food security has several dimensions such as:

a) availability of food in the market, which is a function of production,

b) access to food which is a function of purchasing power and

c) absorption of food in the body which is a function of the availability of clean drinking water, sanitation, toilets, primary healthcare and nutritional literacy.

There are also three types of hunger, viz.

a) under-nutrition resulting from calorie deprivation

b) protein-hunger arising from inadequate consumption of protein-rich foods like pulses, milk, egg etc. and

c) hidden-hunger caused by the deficiency of micronutrients in the diet, such as iron, iodine, zinc, Vitamin A and Vitamin B12.

Photo:The Times of India

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times

The UPA’s showpiece direct benefits transfer (DBT) plan is struggling. Poor Aadhaar enrolment clubbed with lack of banking facilities is coming in the way of the anti-poverty programme.

Numbers are telling. Two months after the roll out in Rae Bareli, the constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, only `1,400 has been transferred in Rae Bareli. The district has 6,000 people enlisted for the National Social Security Programme. Only one person has seen cash transferred to his account.

Photo: Mohd Wasif

Expressing surprise on the absence of latest official data on malnutrition, a Parliamentary panel has asked the government to come up with a time-bound action plan to reduce under-nutrition and ensure real time flow of information for proper monitoring.

“We are surprised to note that in this modern era of information technology, there is no recent official data on malnutrition.”

“What is available is seven years old and outdated...National Family Health Survey III data of 2005-2006,” the panel said.

Right to Food Campaign, West Bengal on National Food Security Act

The UPA 2 Government has taken four years after it announced its intention to legislate a right to food to actually pass the National Food Security Act. This Bill has been brought forward at a time when there are 80 million tonnes of grains in the government godowns and increased public action highlighting widespread hunger. This was an opportune time to bring in a comprehensive Food Security Act which addressed issues of expanding production, decentralised procurement and storage and universal distribution along with special measures to reach out to the most vulnerable. However the government has missed this opportunity by passing a minimalistic Bill.

While almost every political party raised issues related to guarantee of income for farmers, assuring Minimum Support Price, universal coverage under the Public Distribution System(PDS), including pulses and oil in PDS, the necessity of 14 kgs of foodgrains, scrapping cash transfers, community kitchens, removal of contractors, the absurdity of the poverty lines, protecting small and marginal farmers during the debate in Parliament, unfortunately none of the amendments related to these got passed. The millions of poor and food insecure in the country who have been waiting for a comprehensive food Bill may get some small consolation from the fact that hunger, malnutrition and state’s obligation towards addressing this was discussed and debated in Parliament for many hours.

What we got

1.Acknowledgement of hunger and malnutrition and the question of food becomes a legal entitlement

2.Doubling of the coverage, from 36% to 67% in the PDS

3.Strengthening and expansion of the PDS, from a situation of it being dismantled to the fair price shop and the ration system being there to stay.

Photo:India Today

Report on the Flood Affected Areas

A team from the office of the Advisor to Supreme Court Commissioners (in Food Security case, 2001) visited the flood affected areas of Maner Block of Patna District on 16th August, 2013. The team found that the basic requirements such as medicines, food-grains, monetary support, means of transportation are not reaching the afflicted people of the villages namely, Hathi Tola, Munji Tola, Bhawani Tola of Kitachauhattar Madhya Panchayat, villages:- Chhihantar, Mahavir Tola, Dudhaila Tola of Kitachahuhattar Purvi Panchayat, villages:- Haldi Chhapra, Badar Tola, Nayaka Tola, Saat Ana of Kitachauhattar Pashchami Panchayat, villages:- Rampur, Prem Tola, Hulasi Tola of Rampur Diara Taufir Panchayat and other villages:- Islamganj, Suarmarwa, Magarpal and Ratna Tola.

Press Release

More than 20 people from the Right to Food Campaign got into Vijay Chowk outside Parliament, broke Section 144, CrPC and demanded that the entitlement for the destitute and community kitchens for the urban poor. Most of the participants were the old from Rajasthan who sat on the foot path at Vijay Chowk and ate the food distributed by activists, led by sh.Harsh Mander, Biraj Patnaik, Dipa Sinha, Ashish, Aditya Srivastava, Dheeraj, Arundhati dhuru, Richa, Kavita Srivastava and others.

footprintsworld.com

EPW:Stuart Gillespie

In his article Arvind Panagariya argues that (a) the prevailing narrative of child malnutrition being worse in India “than nearly all Sub-Saharan African countries with lower per capita incomes” is false, (b) that this notion is an “artefact of a faulty methodology”, and (c) that the nutrition situation and recent trends in India are not so bad anyway.

The apparent motivation for the paper was the author’s perception that malnutrition statistics were becoming increasingly wielded as a political weapon by critics of India’s economic policy reforms. He suggests that India’s “otherwise measured” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was misguided in stating that “the problem of malnutrition is a matter of national shame” in early 2011.

But there are several major flaws in his argument, which I describe here.

रोजी रोटी अधिकार अभियान ने खाद्य सुरछा अध्यादेश में संशोधन की मांग की.

राष्ट्रीय खाद्य सुरछा अध्यादेश में संशोधन की मांग को लेकर अलग अलग सगठनों से जुड़े और अनेक राज्यों से आये लगभग 800 लोगों ने जंतर मंतर,दिल्ली पर एक बड़े धरना प्रदर्शन में हिस्सा लिया। देश के विभिन्न राज्यों मध्य प्रदेश,राजस्थान,बिहार ,गुजरात,आसाम, जम्मू ,ओड़िशा ,महाराष्ट्र,पश्चिम बंगाल और दिल्ली से आये किसान,बाल अधिकार से जुड़े सामजिक कार्यकर्ता,नरेगा मजदूर,महिला,दलित और आदिवासी संगठनों के प्रतिनिधियों ने यह महसूस किया कि पिछले चार साल से एक व्यापक खाद्य सुरछा कानून के लिए किया जा रहा संघर्ष एक कानून का रूप ले रहा है.वे इस बात से उत्साहित थे कि खाद्य सुरछा अध्यादेश को आज लोक सभा में रख दिया गया.एक मजबूत खाद्य सुरछा कानून के लिए चर्चा और बहस का यह पहला कदम है

Press Note

More than eight hundred persons from several organisations affiliated to the Right to Food Campaign came to Jantar Mantar in Delhi to stage a dharna pressing for amendments in the National Food Security Ordinance, 2013. The activists who came from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Jammu, Maharashtra and Delhi were farmers, children’s rights activist, NREGA workers, Women, Dalit, tribal organisations representatives, felt that the four year struggle of bringing in a comprehensive food security law was culminating into a law a finally. They were heartened that the National Food Security Ordinance was tabled as a bill today in the Lok Sabha, this being the first step towards debating the law, in order to bring in suitable amendments for a strong food law.

The State Jana Mancha on National Food security Ordinance-2013 was held in Bhubaneswar from 1st to 2^nd August 2013. It was attended by 356 participants from 25 districts across Odisha, representing four networks and alliances working in the state. The Jana Mancha organised after five rounds of regional consultations during the month of July, 2013. The Jana Mancha had two plenary sessions and 4 parallel workshops, where the issues relating to right to food in Odisha in the wake of recent National Food Security Ordinance were discussed.

Photo: Reuters

Indian Express: Dipa Sinha and Nikhil Dey

For a programme so vital to the health of India's children, the death of 22 children in Chapra is a nightmare that has come to life. It is unfortunate that it takes a heart-wrenching tragedy to wake up India's middle classes to the situation faced by the poor on a daily basis. Can this calamity shake us up enough to ensure that our future generations live a healthy life? The midday meal (MDM) is an irreplaceable and crucial programme with the potential to provide food and nutrition inputs to most deserving and vulnerable sections of our population. This disaster was certainly avoidable, and accountability must be fixed. But we cannot allow this to descend into a cynical political blamegame. Over 10 crore of our children need this meal in more ways than we can imagine. We owe it to them to act together, and immediately transform this programme into something that truly delivers and is regularly discussed for all the right reasons.

सचिन कुमार जैन

बिहार कई कारणों से भारतीय जीवन में महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाता रहा है. इस बार एक दुखद रूप में बिहार एक ऐसी योजना पर बहस का कारण बना, जिस पर देश आम तौर पर बहस करना छोटा काम समझता रहा है. बिहार के सारण जिले धरमासती गंडामन गांव के नवसृजित प्राथमिक विधालय में मध्यान्ह भोजन योजना के तहत दिए गए भोजन में जहर मिला होने के कारण २७ बच्चों की मृत्यु हो गयी और शायद जब आप यह आलेख पढ़ रहे होंगे तब तक इस संख्या में कुछ बढौतरी होने की आशंका भी है. अखबारों, टी वी चैनलों और संवाद के हर मंच पर मध्यान्ह भोजन योजना के बारे में जो चर्चा हो रही है, वह मुझे एक खतरनाक दिशा में जाती हुई लग रही है.

Right to Food Campaign,Jharkhand Press coverage

Ruchi Gupta

Mr Bhalla has written an alarming piece in the Indian Expressestimating that the Food Security Bill in the first year alone will cost 3% of the GDP. His assertion is based on using the NSS consumption figures from 2011-12, and then calculating the factor by which the subsidy will increase with increased coverage, offtake and reduced price under the NFSB. He thus calculates that the subsidy will increase by a factor of 4.36. He then multiples the current food subsidy expenditure of Rs 72K crore by this factor of 4.36 to arrive at the alarming figure of Rs 314K crore!

The aadhaar project has become the bane of average Indians, threatening their access to all manner of services. basic questions have sometimes been asked and almost never been answered, says
Usha Ramanathan. who is an academic activist and has researched the UID and its ramifications.

The Unique Identity (UID) project has been around for over four years. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was set up by an executive notification dated 28 January 2009 and came into its own after Mr Nandan Nilekani was appointed as chairperson in July 2009. Now it has, as some observers say, become an experiment being conducted on the entire country.

राष्‍ट्रीय खाद्य सुरक्षा अध्‍यादेश के मुख्‍य बिंदु, पत्र सूचना कार्यालय,भारत सरकार

पत्र सूचना कार्यालय,भारत सरकार

राष्ट्रीय खाद्य सुरक्षा अध्‍यादेश एक ऐतिहासिक पहल है जिसके जरिए जनता को पोषण खाद्य और पोषण सुरक्षा सुनिश्चित की जा रही है। इसके जरिए लोगों को काफी मात्रा में अनाज वाजिब दरों पर पाने का अधिकार मिलेगा। खाद्य सुरक्षा विधेयक का खास जोर गरीब से गरीब व्‍यक्ति, महिलाओं और बच्‍चों की जरूरतें पूरी करने पर होगा। अगर लोगों को अनाज नहीं मिल पाया तो उन्‍हें खाद्य सुरक्षा भत्‍ता दिया जायेगा। इस विधेयक में शिकायत निवारण तंत्र की भी व्‍यवस्‍था है। अगर कोई जन सेवक या अधिकृत व्‍यक्ति इसका अनुपालन नहीं करेगा तो उसके खिलाफ शिकायत की सुनवाई हो सकेगी। इस विधेयक की अन्‍य खास बातें निम्‍नलिखित हैं-

The National Food Security Ordinance:Highlights

Press Information Bureau

The National Food Security Ordinance is a historic initiative for ensuring food and nutritional security to the people. It gives right to the people to receive adequate quantity of food grains at affordable prices. The Food Security Bill has special focus on the needs of poorest of the poor, women and children. In case of non-supply of foodgrains now people will get Food Security Allowance. The bill provides for grievance redressal mechanism and penalty for non compliance by public servant or authority. Other features of the Ordinance are as follows.

Right to Food Campaign Yaatra,Jamshedpur

The Times of India

RANCHI: Activists of the Right to Food Campaign have decided to intensify public pressure to bring about logical changes in the proposed bill.

Expressing discontent over the inordinate delay in tabling the bill, adviser to the monitoring committee of the Supreme Court for food security scheme Balram, said they wanted the bill to be passed but with necessary amendments. "We have been campaigning for a holistic bill covering all aspects of people's basic right to fight against hunger and have no objection to the legislation as long as certain amendments are accepted by the government," he said

Right To Food Activist from Eastern and North Eastern Region ask for debate on NFSB at Kolkata

One hundred and two activist representing various organization and movements from Six States of Eastern and North Eastern Region met at Praggolaya in North 24 Parganas near Calcutta.

The Regional convention was one of the decisions taken by the National RTF Steering committee to oppose the intended ‘Ordinance’ on the National Food Security Bill 2013 and to take the movement further with the implementation plans if the bills is passed with needed amendments in the coming monsoon session of the Parliament.

The Video of Speech

Hello My Name is Olivier de Schutter. I am United Nation special Rapporteur for right to food and my role is to make recommendations to governments as to how to improve food security & promote the vital food at all levels. I would like to thank the organizer of this World Breastfeeding Conference in Delhi for their invitation to address you and I of course regret that I cannot be there in person and that’s I have been obliged to stay in New York during this period.

The Indian Express

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh already has a food security law in place. It became last December the first state to pass a food security bill, which covers several sections not under existing schemes.

Stunting a country

The Hindu

India’s paradox of fast economic growth across several years and chronic malnutrition in a significant section of the population is well known. It has vast numbers of stunted children whose nutritional status is so poor that infectious diseases increase the danger of death. About 34 per cent of girls aged 15 to 19 are stunted in the country, according to a major review of global undernutrition by The Lancet. These adolescents, part of the post-liberalisation generation, have benefited the least from economic growth. Without active intervention to improve their access to appropriate food, the young women are bound to face complications during pregnancy and many are certain to deliver stunted babies, continuing the distressing cycle. What these insights underscore is the need for the political class to make the struggle against malnutrition a national priority. It is evident that in the absence of scaled-up programmes to build the health of the child and the teenager, and to provide opportunities for education and skill-building, India cannot really reap the so-called demographic dividend of a large young population. Neither can it substantially reduce its shameful levels of maternal and child mortality, attributable in good measure to lack of nutrients in the diet.

Tamilnadu lukewarm about Food Security Bill

Creating 'Joyful' Anganwadis

Ajay Kumar,The Times of India

The advisor of the commissioner in the right to food case, Clifton D'Rozario, has submitted a detailed report to the central government on malnutrition deaths in Attapadi and recommended urgent welfare measures to support the tribal community.

The report states the state government must constitute a special land tribunal to redress the grievances related to land alienations within one year.

"More than 10,000 acres of land have been found to be alienated from tribals, hence urgent action must be taken to compensate this alienation,'' the report points out.

आदिवासी बहुल बडवानी जिले में स्वास्थ कार्यकर्ताओं पर दमन का सिलसिला बदस्तूर जारी है। आज एक नाटकीय घटना क्रम में जागृत आदिवासी दलित संगठन की प्रमुख कार्यकर्ता माधुरी बहन ने, सन 2008 में दर्ज एक मामलें में जमानत लेने से इनकार कर दिया।उन्होंने बडवानी के मुख्य न्यायिक मजिस्ट्रेट की अदालत में महात्मा गाँधी के चित्र को नमन करते हुए मजिस्ट्रेट से कहा कि "महात्मा गाँधी ने कहा था कि गुलाम देश के स्वतंत्र नागरिक की जगह जेल ही है, अतः वे भी उनके इस वाक्य का पालन करते हुए, बजाय जमानत लेने के, जेल जाने का चुनाव कर रही हैं।इस पर उन्हें ३ मई तक खरगोन जेल भेज दिया गया।ज्ञातव्य है की बडवानी में महिला जेल नहीं है

Dear friends,

Madhuri from Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sanghatan has been arrested today afternoon in a case that was filed against her and others as a result of protests for forcing a pregnant woman i.e. Baniya Bai who was in a critical condition and was in labour to deliver in full public view just outside the Menimata PHC.

Press Statement Issued by the Right to Food Campaign on the National Food Security Bill

Right to Food Campaign

(Secretariat)

=============================================================================================

E 39, First Floor, Lajpat Nagar III, New Delhi 110024, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phone: 011- 29849563, Email: righttofoodindia@gmail.com, Website: www.righttofoodindia.org

Press Statement Issued by the Right to Food Campaign on the National Food Security Bill on 6th May, 2013 at the Press Club of India, N Delhi

The Right to Food Campaign is deeply concerned at the paradox of hunger and malnutrition preying on millions of people in this country even as FCI godowns continue to overflow with grain. In this light, the campaign is chagrined that the Government's flagship initiative in the form of the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) is yet to be passed. This betrays the inhuman apathy of our rulers and the system to the plight of the hungry and the malnourished dying a slow death. The ruling Congress party had promised a food security bill in its manifesto prior to the 2009 General Elections and this was also announced as one of the priorities of the UPA government in the President's speech on 2nd June 2009. As we come close to the end of the term of the 15th Lok Sabha, the Bill is yet to be discussed in Parliament.

by Reyaz-ul-haque

कुछ समय पहले शुरू की गई सब्सिडियों के नकद हस्तांतरण की योजना और आधार के अनुभवों के बारे में बता रहे हैं पत्रकार प्रफुल्ल बिदवई.

संयुक्त प्रगतिशील गठबंधन (संप्रग ) सरकार आधार यूनीक पहचान (यूआईडी) के आधार पर नकद हस्तांतरण की विशाल परियोजना शुरू करने जा रही है जिसका मकसद लोगों तक सार्वजनिक सेवाओं को सीधे पहुंचाना है। इस परियोजना को सरकार देश के 51 जिलों में नए साल के पहले दिन से चलाने की जल्दी में है जिसके अंर्तगत वृध्दावस्था और विधवा पेंशनों, मातृत्व लाभ और छात्रवृति जैसी 34 योजनाएं आती हैं; यह खाद्य, स्वास्थ्य सुविधाओं और ईंधन तथा खाद सब्सिडयों के लिए सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली (साविप्र) जैसी तमाम योजनाओं को आधार आधारित नकद हस्तांतरण (आआनह) के अधीन लाने की दिशा में एक कदम है।

The Hindu-Keshav

There are uncanny parallels between the history of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the course so far of the National Food Security Bill. Both legislations were drafted by the National Advisory Council, tabled in Parliament in a much diluted form, and substantially repaired in response to various agitations and recommendations (including those of a Parliamentary Standing Committee) before being put to vote. The revised version of the National Food Security Bill was recently cleared by the union cabinet and is expected to be discussed in Parliament before the end of the budget session. Like NREGA, the revised food bill is a compromise document that falls short of the initial vision behind it and yet upholds some important entitlements.

Photo by Zubair

Author: Sachin Kumar Jain

आप खुद ही सोच लीजिये क्या 165 ग्राम अनाज से भुखमरी और कुपोषण दूर होगा? पर भारत की सरकार ऐसा ही मानती है. खाद्य सुरक्षा में दालें और खाने का तेल शामिल नहीं है; क़ानून बन रहा है पर भ्रष्टाचार करने वालो के लिए इसमे लगभग खुली छूट है क्योंकि इसमे अपराध गैर-जमानती गंभीर अपराध नहीं है, फिर भले ही यह भूख-कुपोषण से मौत का कारण क्यों न बने; यह भूख से मुक्ति के बजाये कंपनियों के फायदे कमाने का बड़ा साधन बनेगा क्योंकि इसमे बच्चों के पोषण में ठेकेदारों के लिए खूब मौके दिए गए है. भ्रष्ट सरकार की मंशा सामने आ गयी है.

NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY ACT,2013 FULL TEXT

by Reyaz-ul-haque

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