FW: [rightsNlivelihoods] A People's Charter for the Right to Food
achyutdas
From:
rightsnli...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:rightsnli...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of foodrights collective
Sent: 13 August 2011 15:53
To:
rightsNli...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [rightsNlivelihoods] A People's
Charter for the Right to Food
Rigth to Food
A People’s Charter
We the people of Orissa, and participants of the Round Table on the National Food Security Act have debated on the National Food Security Bill over a 2 day round table on the 11th & 12 of August, 2011.
Concerned that the Draft Act in its present form has several negative implications for the people of this country.
Affirming that The right to food is an essential component of the right to life as enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
Recognising that:
1. Food is a crucial factor for the survival and wellbeing of vulnerable groups;
2. Agricultural and Natural Resource development is essential for the two thirds of the population in the rural areas of the country,
3. Division of the poor and the people of the country into economic categories for the Right to Food, is disempowering, and specifically that:
And more specifically :
Ø Malnutrition is a major obstacle to the development of more than 200 million children in India. And Present programmes and provisions under different nutrition schemes are inadequate to address child wastage and stunting;
Ø There is inadequate attention to complaints of local community members;
Ø Scarcity of irrigation makes land un-productive;
Ø Poor marketing leads to distress sales while at the same time, the food does not reach the have nots in the same region;
Ø Agricultural labourers do not have land, and are mostly sharecroppers getting minimum income.
Ø Landless are forced to cultivate Government land, on which they do not have any security of tenure. So they do not have incentive to develop the land;
Ø Farmers are pushed into penury by rising prices and inflation, combined with volatile markets for their produce
Ø Surveys are conducted at a time when most people are away, and so do not get enumerated. There is no guarantee that things will be different now;
Ø Enumerations are very often politically motivated, and the rich and powerful are brought into BPL list, while the voiceless are left out;
Ø Many people migrate out, and will be absent when the present round of enumerations begin;
Ø Those who might be earning well during the time of enumeration, might well fall into poverty if the market demand changes;
Ø The selection process itself is divisive and leads to corruption, violence and injustice;The criteria for giving one mark for SC and ST will lead to exclusion amongst those communities who are not being recognised by the Government;
Ø BPL – APL selection processes disempower the poor,
Ø A universal access and coverage is the only way to check leakage and runaway inflation in food grains;
We Demand:
Ø A Universal PDS, providing for atleast 50kgs of grain per month for every family, ensuring that not a single deserving family is left out;
Ø Nutrition security must be addressed by introducing adequate quantities of pulses, and oil;
Ø NO Cash transfers for PDS or any food related schemes;
Ø Decentralised procurement, accompanied by decentralised production and storage at the Panchayat level;
Ø Support for stepping up agricultural production and incentives to farmers to produce for the different requirements under the National Food Security Act;
Ø Land to Landless, ensuring that tillers and agricultural labourers who are the food producers have adequate land for self reliance, accompanied by supports to develop marginal and degraded lands;
Ø Traditional decentralised grain buffer systems like community grain banks should be supported and revitalised;
Ø Power to the Panchayats to procure from farmers for supply to the PDS and other food schemes;
Ø Revamping of supplementary food schemes including ICDS, and MDM, with focus on sustained support for wasted, undernourished infants and children till the age of 14, and underweight pregnant mothers;
Ø Provisions for supplies for migrant families, in any state in India;
Ø Power to women to monitor, and manage the PDS and other food schemes;
Ø Panchayat Level Grievance Redressal, with decision making powers to Panchayat level bodies
Yours sincerely,
Sumani Jhodia( Tribal Leader, Rayagada District, President Ama Sangathan), Keshamati Pradhan,( tribal Leader, Ghumsar Mahila Sangathan) Bhaja Mahant (Tribal Leader, Sundargarh) Sudarshan Kanhara (Tribal Leader, Phiringia), Jatani Kanhara, (Vice President, Kui Samaj) Achyut Das ( Direcotr, Agragamee) Pradip Pradhan,( Secretary, The Humanity) Tapan Mahapatra ( Child Rights) Suryamani Mishra ( Khabara), Shiba Prasada Sahu ( SMPU), Deepak Behera ( Lok Bikash), Bhajamani Mahanta, Lok Bikas, Kishor Ch. Mahanty, Ananya, Sambedana Nayak, Sarbasadharan, Pradip Sara, Prasar, Anil Pradhan, (Shikshasandhan), Sarangi Dash ( Srusti), Niresh Patnayak ( A2ZNews), Jaypal (Sarpanch, Sukruli, Mayurbhanj), Ranjit Swain (CHale Chalo, Khariar), Prahlan Mahato (The Statesman), Sri Kumta Dash (Awareness), Sudarshan Chotray (Focus Orissa), Smita Mishra (HDF), Pushpanjali Satpathi (Vasundhara), Niranjan Kar(Bikas bartha), Sai Prasanna (Nanata Vikas Manch), Bijay Nanda (Sruti), Dillip Kumar Das (Chairman, Antodaya), Biren Nayak (Action Aid), Karunakar Bhoi ( Khaparkhol), Jati Padha (Bolangir), Vidhya Das(Agragamee), Hemanta Kumar Nayak (Consultant, Kandhmal), Abhay Singh (Author,Publisher, Bhubaneswar), Mohammed Ziauddin Ahmed (ASSART, Kandhmal), Tilottama Singh ( Retd. Head Mistress, Jagatsinghpur)
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