Special Update: Two important announcements

(March 31, 2004)

Dear Friends,

This short, special update contains two urgent announcements: one regarding a forthcoming convention on the right to food and work (11-13 June 2004), and one regarding election-related communication material.

Please consider circulating these announcements within your own area or network, after translation in local language if necessary. Swift and wide circulation of the first announcement is particularly important to enable grassroots organisations around the country to participate in the proposed convention.

NATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE RIGHT TO FOOD AND WORK
(11-13 June 2004)

A national convention on the right to food and work will be held on 11-13 June 2004, tentatively in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). Organisations committed to the right to food and work are expected to join from all over the country. The main purpose of this convention is to share experiences of grassroots action for the right to food/work, and to plan future activities. This is also an opportunity to address the organisational issues that arise in building coordinated action for the right to food and work.

This will be an action-oriented event, with plenty of discussion groups, training workshops, cultural activities, and more. It is a unique chance for persons working on the right to food to meet like-minded people from all over India and learn from each other. Potential issues for discussion include guaranteed employment, the public distribution system, mid-day meals, land rights, and judicial action for the right to food and work, among others.

This convention is a follow-up of earlier discussions held at the World Social Forum in Mumbai (January 2004). It is facilitated by the support group of the �right to food campaign�, in collaboration with several country-wide networks such as the National Alliance of People�s Movements (NAPM), Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS), Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), All India Democratic Women�s Association (AIDWA), National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR), National Campaign Committee for Rural Workers (NCCRW) and People�s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

The convention is being organised on a shoestring budget. All participants are expected to bear their own travel costs, and may be asked to contribute to subsistence costs, if necessary. Other costs will be met through voluntary donations with no strings attached.

If you are keen to participate, please send a line to right2food@yahoo.co.in or get in touch with any member of the �coordination team�. Contact details for the coordination team, and the confirmed venue of the convention, will be circulated soon and also posted on the website of the right to food campaign (www.righttofood.com).

ELECTION-RELATED MATERIAL AVAILABLE

A wide range of communication materials (posters, pamphlets, poems, etc.), prepared in anticipation of the forthcoming elections, has been posted on a temporary website (http://counterpropaganda.tripod.com). There is a special focus on countering the government propaganda on food- and employment-related issues. Further materials on other issues of importance including communalism, child rights, etc. are also available. Feel free to use this material in your own area, with or without modification. A CD with printable materials is available on request (just send a line to right2food@yahoo.co.in).

This effort is an outgrowth of a meeting of Right to Food Campaign activists at Mumbai on 20 January 2004. A follow-up meeting was held in Bhopal on 21-22 February 2004 to prepare posters and other campaign materials. The �Bhopal materials� have been improved and augmented with materials from other sources.

(REMINDER: The �Resistance� event convened by Campaign for Democratic India will be taking place in Delhi on Sunday 4 April. For details see http://counterpropoganda.tripod.com/april4.htm.)