The State Jana Mancha on National Food security Ordinance-2013 was held in Bhubaneswar from 1st to 2nd 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.
The NFSO is extremely inadequate and makes a mockery of food security. It provides extremely limited food entitlements, is piece meal and is nowhere close to providing food security. It is cereal based only, leaving the question of nutritional security out of the purview of Government's accountability. The haste with which the Ordinance was brought in in spite of the Bill pending in the Parliament, betrays an intention to stifle parliamentary debate over an issue that touches the lives of every citizen of this country- especially the poor and the vulnerable.
Odisha Khadya adhikar Abhiyan along with the Right to Food campaign and other networks has consistently campaigned since 2009 June for a comprehensive food security Act but the present form of Ordinance is not adequate to address the food insecurity and hunger issue of Odisha .
The Proposed National Food Security Act is a crucial opportunity to end hunger and malnutrition in Odisha & India. Taking the Ordinance route has effectively stifled parliamentary debate on the issue. Odisha Khadya Adikar Abhiyan along with the Right to Food Campaign protests against this process that stops debate and discussion over an issue that affects millions in our country. At the same time we stand in opposition to a Bill that is so piecemeal in its approach and we will continue to mobilise for a comprehensive food security bill.
Why the Food Security Ordinance has to be opposed
1. It continues with a Targeted PDS, excluding about 18 % from rural and 44% from urban population of Odisha from accessing PDS as a right, giving scope to large exclusion errors of the poor.
2. It is based on the highly controversial Poverty Line of 27.2 rupees for rural India and an even lower 23 rupees for Rural Odisha (33.3 rupees and 29 rupees for urban India and Odisha respectively). The final quotas are derived from poverty estimates based on these poverty lines while the Government had earlier promised to the Supreme Court and to the nation that these poverty estimates would not be used for deciding eligibility for government programmes.
3. While the ICMR norms recommend that an adult requires 14kgs of food grains per month and children 7kgs; the existing Ordinance reduced entitlements to 5kgs per person per month, thus ensuring only 166 gms of cereal per person per day.
4. The bringing in of per capita allocations will lead to major loss for Odisha. As in most of the poorest districts of Odisha (KBK and other tribal districts) the average household size is less than 4 members, the Ordinance will reduce their entitlements from the current 25 kilogrammes to 20 kilogrammes or even lesser. The average household size in Odisha being 4.34, a majority of households in Odisha are likely to get less than 20 kilos per month.
5. The Ordinance provides only for cereals with no entitlements to basic food necessities such as pulses and edible oil required to combat malnutrition.
6. The Ordinance facilitates the entry of private contractors and commercial interests in the supply of food in the ICDS, especially by insisting on specific norms related to Food Safety Acts and micronutrient norms.
7. The Ordinance creates scope for cash transfers replacing food entitlements and take home rations replacing hot cooked meals.
8. This Ordinance is still ambiguous regarding universal maternal entitlements by continuing with the conditionality in the scheme of the two child norm, which will penalise children of higher order as well as deny the mother of her basic rights.
9. The Ordinance does not have a strong grievance redressal mechanism. For the effective there needs to be in place a strong, decentralized and independent grievance redress mechanism that includes Panchayat or block level grievance redress officers with powers to impose penalties on erring officials. The existing penal provision of Rs. 5000 is too less and would be ineffective.
10. The Ordinance does not provide any agriculture and production-related entitlements for farmers in spite of the fact that more than 60% of the people in this country are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. A revived and vibrant agriculture sector forms the backbone of food security.
11. It has no provisions for old age pensions for the support of senior citizens , or for feeding through community kitchens or other measures for the homeless, destitute and other sections that are most often the victims of starvation
Our Demands
1. Universal Public Distribution System: There should be a universal public distribution system providing minimum of 10 kg of grain per person per month along with adequate quantities of Pulses and edible Oil.
2. If at all, exclude only the rich: If at all there is exclusion it the criteria of exclusion should be clear and minimum like, Income tax payee, Government/corporate employees having four wheeler and four room pucca house. There should be Gram Sabha/Palli Sabha role in selection and finale publication of list of entitlement holders.
3. Farmers right to minimum support prices: Just as consumer households require an entitlement to purchase food grains, pulses and oil at subsidised prices, the Farmers require a clear entitlement that grains, pulses and oilseed produced by them can be sold at the minimum support prices. No farmer wanting to sell to the government procurement system should be denied that opportunity. There should be provisions for decentralised storage and procurement of food grains.
4. No to Cash Transfer: Cash transfer should not be allowed to take the place of direct food supply under any circumstances. Similarly the provision of hot cooked meal should not be replaced by take home rations. The emergency feeding to vulnerable people/ GR card provision should be there.
5. No Backdoor Revision of Prices: Any future revision of prices of grain, pulses, oil to be supplied under the TPDS should only be allowed through a parliamentary ratification process.
6. Entitlements for Migrant Workers: The PDS cards should have roaming facility so that migrant workers are able get their entitlements at their place work.
This resolution was presented before Sri Pradeep Majhi( MP), Sri Baistamb Parida (MP), Sri A. V. Swami (MP) and Dr. Balabhadra Majhi( MLA) in the Jan Manch. All of them agreed with the resolution and assured the participants to raise these issues along with other MPs during the discussion in coming parliament debate. They also assured to join on 7th of August demonstration at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi organised by Right to Food campaign.
