![Indian Agriculture Women Harvesting](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Who Thinks What About the Proposed National Food Security Bill?
1)
Government Bill Draft:
-
Covers Below Poverty Line (BPL) families
-
Defines women as head of household
-
Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) to allocate the grain
-
Ensures 25 kg of food grains for Rs. 3 per kilo to each family per month
-
Central Government responsible for identifying poverty levels and allocating food or money to state governments
-
State Governments responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the resources
- Panchayati Raj institutions and the formation of vigilance committees
The National Advisory Council’s (NAC) recommendations:
-
Should ensure subsidised food grains for minimum 75 % of the population
-
Should include a division of “priority households” and “general households”
-
Priority households: monthly entitlement of 35 kg at a subsidised price of Rs. 1 a kg for millets, Rs. 2 a kg for wheat and Rs. 3 a kg for rice.
-
General households: monthly entitlement of 20 kg at a price not exceeding 50 % of the current Minimum Support Price for the three grains.
|
2)
National Binding Obligations:
-
Article 47 of Indian constitution: Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health
-
Article 21 of Indian Constitution: Protection of Life and Personal Liberty
- The National Human Rights Act 1993: to respect, protect and promote human rights in India
India: Signatory of International Human Rights Agreements:
-
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): right to adequate standard of living
-
The Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1979): right to adequate food and freedom from hunger
-
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1992)
-
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1993)
-
Millennium Development Goals (2000): halve the proportion of people living with hunger by 2015
-
FAO (2004)
Right to Food Guidelines:
Freedom from hunger and right to food
|
3)
FIAN – Fighting Hunger with Human Right and civil society groups:
The Bill:
-
Must ensure government responsibility for securing people’s livelihood
-
Must ensure government responsibility for allocating the necessary resources
-
Must ensure 80 % local food production – reduce wastage
-
Must secure farmers’ right to land and protect land from non-agricultural use and private investments
-
Must ensure government responsibility for securing people’s livelihoods. This involve producing food indigenously, adequate wages and full employment to all and access to production resources
- Must institute a national monitoring mechanism – linked to prime minister’s office
|
Read more about the proposed Bill, food security in India and national and international laws and treaties under the heading “the Right to Food”.