| Right to Food Campaign | |||
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UPDATE 12 Dear friends, This is the second part of our
two-part update for this week. The headlines: 1. SECOND REPORT OF THE
COMMISSIONER 1. SECOND REPORT OF THE
COMMISSIONER Dr N C Saxena, Commissioner of
the Supreme Court, has been taking forward the system of monitoring food and
employment schemes. In the past few months he has been travelling actively
to various states including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar
Pradesh, and Orissa. In all these places he has been holding meetings with
active participants of the Right to Food Campaign as well as with government
officials. The second report of the
Commissioner has also been presented to the Supreme Court. At the last
hearing, on 3 March, Justice Sabarwal said that he had spent two hours
studying the report, and he directed the states to respond to it carefully.
He will be taking it up in detail in the next hearing, on 8 April. The
report is available in the website (you can access it at http://www.righttofoodindia.org/links/reports/sctwo.html,
or just go to www.righttofood.com and a link at the bottom of the page will
lead you right there). 2. UTTAR PRADESH: STRUGGLE FOR
RIGHT TO FOOD AND INFORMATION On 11 January 2003, just a day
after the President of India put his seal on the Union Right to Information
Act, over 250 people from Bharawan village in Hardoi district (U.P.) staged
a spontaneous dharna to demand information on development-related schemes in
their block. The demand was fiercely opposed by vested interests, and the
struggle intensified over the next two weeks, with the active involvement of
Sandeep Pandey. After ten days of dharna and several days of hunger strike
in icy weather, the administration turned hostile and even threatened a
lathi charge. Despite dire warnings, the people of Bharawan moved towards
the district headquarters in Hardoi. They marched with black bands tied
across their mouth to symbolize the stifling of the voice of democracy. The District Magistrate, Mr
M.A.A. Khan, assured them that he would complete an enquiry and give a
detailed report by 15 February. As a first victory, the people of Bharawan
got information about various public works taken up for a part of last year.
Seeing unbuilt roads and ghost 'projects' has created a stir among the
participants. This has also put pressure on the administration with various
officials being suspended, possibly for the first time in UP with the use of
right to information. To take this process forward, a
workshop on the right to food and information was organised in Bharawan on
20-21 February. The workshop had widespread participation from people all
over the block and even from different parts of UP. Members of PUCL
(Rajasthan), Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Parivartan (Delhi) and the
support group of the right to food campaign facilitated the workshop. There are widespread
irregularities in the region. Few people have seen ration cards. A survey
done in five panchayats revealed that only 0.5 % of the people had a ration
card. This is staggering even by UP's unusual standards. Only one woman
among hundreds of participants had heard of a survey being conducted for
identifying BPL families, even though local officials claimed that a
door-to-door BPL identification survey had just been completed. Participants
from just one panchayat had worked in an SGRY programme, and even they had
not received their full wages. The meeting ended with a
resolve to take up issues of employment, pensions and the public
distribution system. The team hopes to make use of the right to information
in securing better compliance in the region with respect to these schemes.
Hopefully this would lead to a much larger movement in the whole of Uttar
Pradesh. 3. ORISSA: MORE PUBLIC HEARINGS In Kalahandi district, a team
of volunteers is making preparations for public hearings in all the 16
panchayats of Thuamul Rampur block. A major public hearing is expected to
take place in Kerpai, the remotest panchayat of this remote block of a
remote district. Meanwhile, there are signs that the district administration
is beginning to respond to these initiatives. Further details are awaited.
If interested, please contact Rajkishore Mishra at rajkishor_mishra@hotmail.com. 4. KARNATAKA: MODEL SOCIAL
AUDITS PLANNED Groups in Karnataka are
actively taking forward the system of social audits. They have organised two
rounds of training for this purpose. Members of the campaign groups have
also participated in a couple of social audits organised in Rajasthan and in
Delhi. They are well on their way to conducting audits in parts of
Karnataka. This would be one major step in using the tools of right to
information to promote the right to food. 5. EXTENSION OF MID-DAY MEALS
TO SUMMER VACATION The support group has started
lobbying for an extension of mid day meal programmes during the summer
months, especially in drought-affected districts (this proposal is also
included in the second report of the Commissioner). In drought-affected
areas, mid-day meals can play a crucial role in protecting children from
hunger. Towards this, the support group has argued for an extension of mid
day meals into summer, improved quality and quantity of mid-day meals, and
inclusion of out of school children during the summer vacation. Similar
demands have been made by various individuals and organisations involved in
the right to food campaign, notably in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and
Karnataka. The demand for extension of
mid-day meals to the summer vacation was presented by Akal Sangharsh Samiti
to Mr. Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, at the end of a one-day
dharna held on 3 March (see part 1 of this update). The Chief Minister
welcomed the idea and a provision for this was made in the budget presented
the next day in the State Assembly. Similar efforts are being made
elsewhere. 7. FIAN SEMINAR IN DELHI FIAN International organised a
three-day seminar on the right to food at the Indian Social Institute on
24-26 February 2003, under the theme: "Towards Full Realization of the
Right to Food: Exploring the potentials of a Framework Law". The
seminar reviewed the implementation of the right to food in India and
explored the potential for a so-called "framework law" on the
right to food, i.e. a law aimed at defining the broad parameters of legal
action in this domain. FIAN has been working on "voluntary
guidelines" for the right to food with the UN's Food and Agriculture
Oragnisation (FAO). The guidelines proposed by FIAN are available in the
organisation's website (see http://www.fian.org/COC.ENG.rtf). We hope to
share the report of the seminar with you in due course. 8. ANTYODAYA PROGRAMME TO BE
EXPANDED Having said this, the announced
extension is only about half of what the Food Ministry had recommended,
based on this proposal. Further, the proposal included wide-ranging
suggestions for the consolidation of the scheme, which are yet to be
accepted by the government. The lobbying efforts continue (it seems that a
modified version of the proposal submitted to the Supreme Court has been
sent by the Food Ministry to the Cabinet). One specific suggestion made in
the proposal was that some specific "priority groups" should be
given Antyodaya cards as a matter of right, e.g. widows without support,
disabled persons without support, and elderly persons without support.
Informal communications from the Food Ministry suggest that these groups
will receive priority in the proposed extension of the Antyodaya programme.
Revised guidelines are awaited. 9. PLANS FOR WEEK OF ACTION
FROM MADHYA PRADESH AND KARNATAKA Plans for week of action is
being made actively by various groups across the country. In a meeting of
participants of active participants of right to food campaign in Madhya
Pradesh, it was decided that all the organisations present will take up some
activity or the other for the week of action. This may be organising a
meeting of ten or more panchayats, rallys, dharanas, etc. Plans are on to
involve the media actively in the process. This is one of the first states
to put its plans in place for the week of action. Simultaneously in Karnataka
campaign groups are in planning activities in all 27 districts of the State.
They are also planning to work with the National Law School, Bangalore to
revise the Maharashtra employment guarantee act and produce an improved
draft for Karnatka. To take the message of the campaign among people
effectively, plans are on to involve cultural activists to produce songs to
spread the message effectively. Activities are being planned
for every day of the week across the state. The current plan is to have a
theme for each day based on which activities would be organised in different
parts of the state. Plans include involvement of government officials and
media in all levels; call for action for all community based organisations,
trade unions, NGOs et al; taking up the cause of migrant workers, youth,
women, child labourers and children in general. On May 1st there will be
rallies in front of the vidhan sabha (legislative assembly of the state) and
also in every district headquarters. 10. MAHARASHTRA: DEMAND FOR
INCREASED SPENDING ON HEALTH AND NUTRITION Anna Adhikar Abhiyan organised
a mass protest on 11-13 March in Mumbai (coinciding with the opening of the
budget session of the State Assembly), demanding a major increase in public
spending on health and nutrition. The dharna, attended by some 1500-2000
people on all the three days, was accompanied by a mass relay fast. It was
addressed by a number of leading social activists. The demands included increasing
budgetary allocations for nutrition and health, reverting to a universal
public distribution system, distribution of BPL cards in the interim to
various identified social categories, proper implementation of the mid-day
meal scheme and the integrated child development scheme, availability of
drugs in public hospitals, stopping privatisation of health services, public
audit of the Rs 727 crore World Bank loan to the health sector, and posting
of health workers in every village. 11. WOMEN'S RIGHT TO FOOD AND
WORK" - THEME OF WOMEN'S DAY IN WEST BENGAL In West Bengal, over 35 women's
organisations and NGOs held demonstrations on 8 March 2003 (Women's Day)
under the banner of Maitree. The demonstrations held in the College Square
had the right to food and work as the primary theme. This was featured as
one of the prime concerns along with domestic violence and other issues.
Songs and plays added colour to the programme, and all the participants wore
caps saying "No war, we want food, No war, we want work". Leaflets
were circulated linking the right to work with the right to food. A special
issue of the magazine 'Haq Katha' was brought out, focusing on the right to
work, the public distribution system, and related issues. Shramajibee Mahila Samity, a
rural working women's organisation, performed a play at College Square.
Problems in enlisting names in BPL list, non-availability of food grains
from ration shops, and violations of Supreme Court orders in rural areas
were among the themes of the play. Besides this, many other NGOs like
Sanlaap, ISW and individual members of the platform put up dance dramas,
recited poems and sang anti-war songs. After the play, 'Maitree' took
out a rally from College Square to Sealdah Railway Station. About 700 women
participated in that rally. The event was well covered by print and visual
media. Apart from Maitree, many other women's groups have taken up food as
one of the key themes of Women's Day. 12. MORE ACTIVITIES IN MADHYA
PRADESH There has been a fair amount of activity in Madhya Pradesh in recent weeks. In Jhabua, a training programme on the right to food took place with a five-point agenda: 1-the concept of food security, 2-food security & right to food campaign, 3- Supreme Court orders & its implementation at community level, 4-various public welfare schemes being implemented by Government, 5- taking forward the campaign at various levels. Various issues came up at the workshop. In social security pension schemes, for example, the beneficiaries are asked by the bank to get the signatures of the sarpanch or the village secretary. The poor have to part with some bribe to do the same. Further, the eligibility criteria of the scheme are found to be problematic. In mid-day meal scheme, where 'dry-rations' are being provided, it has been found not to reach the children. SAMPARK has agreed to disseminate information on the schemes, the orders of the Supreme Court, and the BPL survey. The workshop also discussed the need to spread awareness about globalisation among people since it is connected to right to food and work. Meanwhile, there is also some movement in the Gwalior-Chambal area of Madhya Pradesh. Recent reports suggest that the drought situation in districts such as Shivpuri and Sheopur is extremely alarming, especially among the Sahariyas. For instance, there isn't a blade of grass in the entire eastern part of Sheopur district, and cattle are dying like flies. Villagers are already reporting cattle losses of 50 per cent or so, and expect the bulk of the livestock to perish during the next few months. The condition of the people is not much better. Undernutrition levels in that area are among the highest in India even in ordinary years, and hunger is intensifying further with the spread of drought conditions. Immediately after Holi, mass migration began, with entire villages leaving the drought-affected areas to look for work elsewhere. Ekta Parishad is doing useful work on drought and related issues in these districts, and Lok Adhikar Manch, a coalition of organisations based in the area, is planning a training programme on the right to food for local activists during the second week of April. Also in Madhya Pradesh, activists of the right to food campaign recently joined an antiwar demonstration also involving ActionAid (bhopal) , Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS), Samajvadi Jan Parishad, Jansangharsh Morcha, Science Centre, Tulika Samvad , Pragatisheel & Janvadl Lekah Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sanghathan, Narmada Bachao Andolan, and Eklavya, among others. The demonstrators pointed out that apart from being a violation of human rights in itself, the war also distracts us from concentrating on efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger. |
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