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State Level Convention on Proposed Food Security Act
Organized by HRLN, RTFCO, BGVS-JSA, NSA
BHUBANESWAR: Close on the heels of UPA government proposing to introduce Right To Food (RTF) Bill, activists and experts here on Sunday emphasized the need for making the Act ‘infallible’ by addressing wide range of concerns associated with the subject and possible shortcomings during implementation. Addressing a State-level consultation meet on the proposed right to act, senior Supreme Court lawyer Colin Gonsalves said the fundamental task before policymakers was to revisit BPL estimates in the country.
“Although government claims that poverty level has come down below 30 per cent, in reality 70 per cent of India’s population is poor. These people don’t get 2400 calories per day. We need to ensure that this 70 per cent population get BPL card,” Mr. Gonsalves said. He opined that grievance redressal mechanism in the proposed bill should be made foolproof.
Underlining the need for looking into a host of issues associated with food security, the senior lawyer said, “in the context of land reforms and amendments in the Land Acquisition Act, we are likely to be turned into a nation of beggars where our lands will be taken, our forests appropriated, our water privatized, our seeds patented and our biodiversity pilfered and then we will beg for 100 days of NREGA and 35 kgs of PDS.” Speaking on the occasion, former Finance Minister Panchanan Kanungo said the proposed act should not be over ambitious, but implementable. Funds would not be a problem for implementation of RTF because there were large numbers of Central and State Government schemes in place to address food security of destitute and these could be amalgamated to a single programme, Mr. Kanungo said.
Activists from different fields said government should learn from past mistakes and make it a perfect one that would deal with food. “We need to make public distribution system universal. The State should take control of the distribution of 14 essential items, not just rice, kerosene, wheat or sugar,” said Suresh Panigrahi of Communist Party of India (Marxist). Among others Kumarbar Das from Utkal University, Raj Kishore Mishra, advisor to Supreme Court Commissioner on Food Right and Pradip Pradhan of RTF, Orissa were present on the occasion.
Courtesy: The Hindu "Need to Revisit BPL Estimates" 27th July 2009 http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/27/stories/2009072750850200.htm
For more details, contact Network for Social Accountability (NSA) C/o Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) C-2, HIG, Baramunda Housing Board Colony, Baramunda, Bhubaneswar, 751003 Phone: 0674-3267405 |
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