New Delhi, January 3rd, 2013

With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, General Assembly in 1948, the importance of 'Right to
Food' has been growing in the world. The National Human Rights Commission, right since its inception in 1993, has been giving importance to the issue of food security. It has consistently maintained that the right to food is an integral part of right to life as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

In fact, the right to food is inherent to several provisions of the Indian Constitution, including the commitments in the Preamble to secure 'social and economic justice' and 'equality of opportunity', supported by the commitment to promote the dignity of the individual. For instance, Article 21, in Part III of Constitution of India states 'No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, except according to procedure established by law'. However, the term 'life' in this Article has been judicially interpreted to mean the right to live with human dignity, and not merely to survive or exist.

In the words of the Supreme Court, 'Right to life includes the right to live with human dignity and all that goes with it, namely the bare necessaries of life such as adequate food, nutrition, clothing and shelter'. It thus includes all aspects which would make life meaningful and complete. Article 39(a), in Part IV of the Directive Principles of State Policy, provides that men and women equally have the right to an adequate means of livelihood. Furthermore, Article 47 states that the State shall consider raising the level of nutrition and standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties.

A brief look at the statistical data of India reveals that India has the largest number of children in the world who are malnourished. National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 data further shows that anaemia among children and women is on the rise. Besides, the calories consumption on average in rural areas has fallen way below the calories norm for the rural poverty line (2400 calories). The poverty line threshold for urban areas for calorie consumption is 2100 and urban consumption, too has fallen over the last two decades. Other challenges that remain, include high levels of adult malnutrition affecting a third of the country's adults and high levels of under-nutrition, particularly among women and children.

The NHRC took cognizance of starvation deaths in Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK) Districts of Odisha as starvation constitutes a gross denial and violation of right to life. Further, in order to ensure that every one is free from hunger, the Commission constituted a Core Group on Right to Food, comprising experts from across the country. Later a small group was constituted to crystallize the recommendations/suggestions made by the Core Group. These were forwarded to the Chief Secretaries and Administrators of all States/Union Territories for compliance. Some of these are as follows:

i) The system of delivery be firmed up by active involvement of Panchayati Raj institutions;
ii) It is mandatory not just to have food as matter of right but also to ensure proper nutrition. Schemes are already available but we have to see and remove the discrepancies in existing schemes. Providing food should not be based on only quantity but on calories of energy;
iii) There is need to dovetail with employment generation schemes and other interventions to ensure sustainable livelihood.

The main objectives of the conference will be:

i) To analyze the right to food in terms of availability, accessibility, adequacy and sustainability;
ii) Existing situation in the country regarding fulfillment and realization of the right to food;
iii) Examination of the programme and policies being followed in realizing right to food; and
iv) Steps to create awareness on the importance of the right to food.

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