<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-16"> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="The Right to Food Campaign is an informal network of organisations and individuals committed to the realisation of the right to food in India. We consider that everyone has a fundamental right to be free from hunger and undernutrition. Realising this right requires not only equitable and sustainable food systems, but also entitlements relating to livelihood security such as the right to work, land reform and social security. We consider that the primary responsibility for guaranteeing these entitlements rests with the state. Lack of financial resources cannot be accepted as an excuse for abdicating this responsibility. In the present context, where peoples basic needs are not a political priority, state intervention itself depends on effective popular organisation. We are committed to fostering this process through all democratic means"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="Right to food campaign, right, india, food, right to work, food security, campaign, activism, poverty, schemes, food schemes, ngo, food for work, mid day meal, mdms, action day, week of action, drought, hunger, pucl, jean, dreze"> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="doctitle" --> <title>Right to Food Campaign</title> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> <LINK rel = STYLESHEET href= "../site.css" Type="text/css"> <SCRIPT src="../array.js" TYPE="text/javascript"> </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT src="../nav.js" TYPE="text/javascript"> </SCRIPT> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="head" --><!-- InstanceEndEditable --> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" link="#800000" vlink="#800000" alink="#800000" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" class="body" style="text-indent: 0; word-spacing: 0; line-height: 100%; text-align: Left; margin: 0" onClick="hideAll()"> <table width="780" height="76" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="body"> <tr bgcolor=#000033> <td height="32" width="17" bordercolor="#000000"></td> <td height="32" bordercolor="#000000" colspan="3"> <b><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Garamond" size="5">Right to Food Campaign</font></b> </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor=#666699> <td height="21" valign=top colspan="4">&nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="17" height="373" valign=top bgcolor=#666699 class="body"> <script language=javascript> menu(0); </script> </td> <td width="5" height="373" align="justify" valign=top class="body" style="text-align: Justify"> </td> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Text Region" --> <td width="748" height="373" align="justify" valign=top class="body" style="text-align: Justify"> <p class="pagetitle">Employment Guarantee Bill: Parliamentary Debates</p><p class="body">The passage of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA 2005) was marked by spirited debates in many public fora. Here we present some of the debates that took place in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, prior to the unanimous vote for the Act.</p> <p class="body">Because the files are rather large, we have provided links to the debates on the Lok Sabha's website. They must be viewed with the <a href="http://164.100.24.208/ls/lsdeb/Hindifonts.htm" target="_blank">Divya</a> font.</p> <ul class="body"> <li><a href="../data/loksabha18augegadebate.doc" target="_blank">Lok Sabha debate, 18 August 2005</a> (<a href="http://164.100.24.208/debate14/debtext.asp?slno=3008&ser=Employment^Guarantee&smode=t" target="_blank">Lok Sabha website</a>)</li> <li><a href="../data/loksabha22augegadebate.doc" target="_blank">Lok Sabha debate, 22 August 2005</a> (<a href="http://164.100.24.208/debate14/debtext.asp?slno=3574&ser=Employment^Guarantee&smode=t" target="_blank">Lok Sabha website</a>)</li> <li><a href="../data/loksabha23augegadebate.doc" target="_blank">Lok Sabha debate, 23 August 2005</a> (<a href="http://164.100.24.208/debate14/debtext.asp?slno=3419&ser=Employment^Guarantee&smode=t" target="_blank">Lok Sabha website</a>)</li> <li><a href="../data/singh05rajyasabhaspeech.doc" target="_blank">Dr. Manmohan Singh's speech to the Rajya Sabha, 24 August 2005</a></li> </ul> <p class="body"></p> <p class="body">Last updated: 9 February 2006</p> </td> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> <td width="10" height="373" align="justify" valign=top class="body" style="text-align: Justify"> </td> </tr> </table> </body> <!-- InstanceEnd --></html>