Food for Work

Dear friends,

At recent meetings in Delhi and elsewhere, many suggestions have been made about possible campaign activities in the “food for work” districts. What happens in these districts is likely to have an important influence on the debate about an Employment Guarantee Act. Also, there are special opportunities for grassroots mobilisation in these districts. Recent suggestions of possible activities in these districts include:

- Organised demand for work.

- Monitoring of the works that are started.

- Ensuring the payment of minimum wages.

- Fighting corruption.

- Forming unions of labourers employed on FFW programmes.

- Organised demand for conversion of FFW into Employment Guarantee.

With this in mind we are circulating below a summary of the official “guidelines” of the FFW programme. The full guidelines can be found at http://rural.nic.in/nffwpguidelines.htm, and also in the “Employment Guarantee” section at http://righttofoodindia.org/rtowork/ffwguidelines.html.

According to the guidelines, muster rolls are supposed to be available for public scrutiny and “copies of muster rolls duly certified by the Panchayat Sarpanch shall be placed before the Gram Sabha”.

The list of 150 “FFW districts” is available at http://rural.nic.in/AnnexureNFFWP1.htm.

If you are working in FFW districts please send us a line; we are trying to compile a list of organisations working in these districts and to initiate regular contacts with them.

Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (Rajasthan) is willing to help organise training programmes for activists working in FFW districts. If you are interested please let us know or write directly to MKSS at mkssrajasthan@gmail.com