The National Human Rights Commission organised a two-day National Conference on Right to Food in New Delhi from the 28th- 29th April, 2016 which was inaugurated by the Chairperson, Justice Shri H.L. Dattu. Several important suggestions emerged during the discussions to ensure food security to the people. Justice Dattu said that there is no dearth of Government policies and programmes for ensuring food for all in the country. Questions can be raised only about their effective implementation.
Appreciating the improvement in food grains production, he, however, said that it's stocking and distribution among the needy continues to remain a concern. There is a need for the convergence of brilliant ideas and programmes, being put to use by different State Governments, into 'one mission' with 'one approach' there-by re-moving dichotomies in the implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) across the country.
Justice Dattu said that it is not understandable why the country cannot have a common Standard Operating Procedure on the matters of governance, especially, in the implementation of the programmes like NFSA. A common programme of implementation mechanism will go a long way in ultimately ensuring portability of food for all in the country, which should be the primary goal.
The NHRC Chairperson said that the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) is a comprehensive document ensuring food security, primarily, for the poor in normal circumstances but natural calamities, like drought, affect all, irrespective of their economic and social status. He said that the NFSA has to be an inclusive provision of law, in terms of providing its benefit to the poor migrant labourers also, who may not have documents to support their claim under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) of their place of migration.
It needs to be discussed as to what extent the efforts to check the leakages in the TPDS have been effective as well as the impact of efforts like Transferring of Direct Subsidy. Problems of malnourishment, particularly, among women and children and falling levels of calorie consumption need to be reviewed in view of the impact of the measures taken up to address them.
Justice Dattu also said that the NFSA has to be read and studied with our agricultural practices and the challenges facing them in the wake of falling ground water levels at a rapid speed causing an alarming situation of drought in several districts of the country. The issue of crop rotation to conserve soil and water levels as well as our food requirements need to be addressed with a missionary zeal. He said that the ultimate goal of the NFSA, integrated with various social-welfare schemes, should be that nobody sleeps without food or falls prey to begging for it.
The NHRC Chairperson said that the civil society and NGOs, already doing constructive work, should also devote themselves to building awareness about Government schemes in not only the rural and tribal areas but also in the urban areas and become watchdogs. He also appealed to all the people that they should come forward in sharing this responsibility of the State and should ensure that excess food is not wasted and is given to the needy.
The Union Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ms. Vrinda Sarup, expressed satisfaction over the action taken by the States and Union Territories for implementing the NFSA. With reference to several parts of country facing drought, she said that the Government has sufficient stock of food grains to supply them to natural calamity hit States over and above their requirements under National Food Security Act.
The NHRC Secretary General, Shri S. N. Mohanty said that the Commission has maintained that Right to Food is intrinsic to living a life with dignity and it is committed to suggesting measures to the Government on food security for all.
The two-day discussions, divided into four thematic sessions, had participation from the NHRC Members, Justice Shri Cyriac Joseph, Justice Shri D. Murugesan and Shri S.C. Sinha and senior officers, senior officers from the Union Ministries, States and Union Territories dealing with the subject, Members of NHRC's Core Advisory Group on right to Food, representatives of other National and State Commissions, technical institutions, international organizations, non-governmental and civil society organizations working at the grassroots and subject experts.
The Commission will further deliberate upon the suggestions for improving the food security mechanism in the country and send its final recommendations to the Government.