Right to food is meant by fulfilling requirement of nutritious diet for today with dignity, only safe for tomorrow, priority to decision of community on production arrangement, constitution of market according to local food arrangement, culture and requirement; ensure social protection of disadvantaged groups of society.

From initiation of human life (till conception) to last point of life body requires nutrients in prescribed quantity for being alive. Deficiency of these nutrients deeply affects physical and mental development of a person. According to health science foundation of development of any person lays upto completion of 2 years of age and if any nutritional deficiency persists during this age the condition achieved due to these deficiencies could not be resolved during whole life. As a result, children are unable to learn rapidly, can’t play, not being creative and on being adult defeated in terms of livelihood and labour also, many types of disability also occur. Caloric requirement of a small child is minimum 1250 cal. up to 6 years age 1650 cal. sedentary workers 2400cal. and heavy physical workers requires 3800 cal. per day. This energy requirement should be fulfilled from food. According to nutritional measures we need protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, mineral, vitamin and micro nutrient for life.

According to renowned economist Utsa Patnaik at present 76% of Indian population could not get food as per norms. When talked for right to food it comprises of production of food, its equal distribution, freedom from discrimination, security of livelihood measures and their dignity. It is important to know that there is a food culture of every community, this culture should be honored. In past 40 years of development in India methods decreased production of agriculture and cereals, it very much violate right to food. In India number of people living with hunger is increased to 80 crore, in this circumstances role of state should be ensured to restrict expansion of hunger and to reduce it. It can be easily meant that state should ensure strategic, legal and legislative actions that no one sleeps with hunger, their livelihood measures to be legally protected, this is what right for food.

Rapid economic growth and even availability of sufficient ration at household level could not ensure permanent and satisfactory nutritional status. This policy (policy of development) might have some distant effects but at present no relief could be observed by the population evolved in cycle of malnutrition. This deprived group has very less age for life but has lot for die in less age.

National Nutrition Policy, 1993

In past democracy is recognized as political democracy, where every person has a vote. But vote has no meaning for a person who is poor and lean or who is hungry and dying with hunger.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, 25 February 1956

Those poor people who are wandering here and there, have no work, could not get any labour and dying with hunger, suffering from continuous piercing poverty, can not proud on constitution or its methodology.

Wise President Dr. Radhakrishnan

Now act of roti will not only for freedom of hunger it should be for injustice

Face of hunger

First budget of India after independence was of Rs. 200 crore. In July 2009 when finance minister reported that now budget has changed a lot. In 60 years size of India budget has increased 5000 times from 200 crore and in 2009 in reaches to Rs. 10 lac crore, but regret, something was not changed, is pain of poverty and hunger. We can not tell today with pride that economic growth of India give freedom to it populace from hungry nights. Today also 36 crore people are going to sleep empty stomach.

The question is that when budget of India increases 5000 time, then production of food grains increases only four times.

In rural India 23 crore people are in the net of lack of nutrition and in India reason behind death of 50% children is malnutrition. In 15 to 49 years age group every one among 3 people is weak, having body mass index lower than 18.5.

Today government of India is struggling for achieving target of production of 22.8 crore ton of food grains, but in the year 2015 we needed 25 to 26 crore ton food grains to met our requirements, to achieve this is might be infeasible. India is on 94th rank among list of 119 countries in reference to global hunger index.

Twenty seven percent malnourished population of world is living in India. World average of malnutrition among children is 25% but in India 43% children are suffering from malnutrition.

In India 70% children of age below 5 years are anaemic and 80% children could not receive vitamin A dose. Recent report of World Food Program reported that number of anaemic children in India has increased by 6%.

In the country more than 80% children in 11 states among 19 are anaemic. Forty percent women continuously suffering from chronic energy deficiency since last 6 years in India. There is no reduction. It means that growth of India is a spider web of data. It is not indicator of change in life of people. Therefore we need act which ensures complete food security.

Starvation is truth of today society but for Saharia Tribals of Madhya Pradesh hunger, the truth, born with a myth, became a part of life and today also going with them. According to R.V. Rasal and Hiralal, at the time of induction of the world, Mahadev wants to train human being for doing agriculture. For this purpose he created a plough and tied his Nandi ox and brings them on earth. On earth he watched forest everywhere then he created a human being and named him “Savar”. Mahadev gave a kulhadi to “Savar” for cleaning forest, he leave Nandi ox there and went to bring another ox. After cleaning forest savar feels very hungry but there was nothing to eat, so Savar ate Nandi. When Mahadev returned forest, felt very happy by watching cleanliness and in prize make Savar aware about the resources available in forest like food, roots and tubers, herbs, fruits, etc. But when he did not saw Nandi he searched. Mahadev found bones of Nandi and Mahadev re alive Nandi by spraying amrit. Nandi told him whole story and by this Mahadev became angry on Savar (later became Saharia) and curse him that although you will be living near resources but could not get free from poverty; you never get sufficient food and your life goes in hunger

It is not known that how much this story is true but Saharia tribal were suffering curse of social exclusion and state policies. It is defined as a backward tribe which is in crisis due to nutrition and health insecurity. Today 75 tribes out of total 623 tribal groups in India were kept in the category of backward tribes.

In Bihar Mushars are living. This word means that they have no relation with “rats” (Mushak). Yes, today itself Mushars are living by eating rats, they searches bills of rats and brings food grains, which rats had stored, and prepare food for themselves.

In many areas of Orissa and Jharkhand people brings dung of cow and buffalo so that they can find some food grains, like wheat and jwar, which came out from the stomach of these animals without digested. People are trying to calm down their hunger by washing and eating these food grains but not succeed.

A special community is responsible for taking out human excreta from 92 lac dry toilets in India today also. This is a caste based work. Today itself more than 3 lac dalit people are doing this painful job of taking off human excreta because they had no other source of struggle with poverty and hunger.

Ganesh Barman of Majhganwa village of Jabalpur district could not found why him name was cut off from the list of poverty line. This might be the result of that government policy under which government is reducing number of poor for reducing formidability of poverty. Their one acre field is mortgaged since 6 years for Rs. 7 thousand. They received Rs. 50 after a month by contractor for making 2 thousand bidi. They had a habit of sleeping starved. Now they are unable to get money on credit. His 26 year old son Santu has mental disorder and daughter Sunita could not cope up with hunger and lost her life on 12th December 2009. They are out of schemes of government because poverty line has become rope on their neck.

In India 7% population is suffering from some type of disability, and facing exclusion at social and family level. They need nutrition security but this category had no protection. Like wise women, children, dalits also needed legal right of food security at different level. In this regard Supreme Court is repeatedly asking protection for deprived groups. Court defined food security by adding it with basic rights of life and equality and tells- “Court has concerned that poor people and weaker section of society will not suffer hunger and starvation. Its prohibition is a major responsibility of government. To ensure this is a matter of policy and better to leave it on government. Court should be satisfied in this regard and it should be ensured that the food grains in stores, particularly in stores of India Food Corporation, must not be wasted by sinking in sea or eating by rats.”

Court said “it is most important to provide food to poor males and females, pregnant women and lactating mothers and poor children, particularly in such cases, where they or their family members are not in condition of providing sufficient food to them.” Government should honor this decision of justice.

List of poverty line will be the base for eligibility for National Food Security Act. This poverty line is same which has names of 6.52 crore families but 7.5 crore families being out of this list. Firstly, Planning Commission has reported that 28.3% families are poor but later Tendulkar Committee, constituted by Planning Commission, reported that 37.5% in India and 41.8% in rural areas are poor. Dr. N.C. Saxena Committee, constituted by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, proved that 50% rural population is poor. 76.8% could not get complete nutrition and 77% population in India lives on less than Rs. 20 a day, but government believes that there are only 28% poor and the Act will restricted to benefit only these.

Recently a point comes forward that poverty line a big challenge for right to food to deprive. Government set criteria (people spending less than Rs. 12 in rural area and Rs 19 in urban per day per person on food are treated as poor) of expenditure as base of poverty line are unable to provide sufficient food. This much of money brings, less than one third of the food required, to our plates. Analysis of Arjun Sengupta and Utsa Patnaik clearly stated that right of regular economic food grain, dal and oil is quiet necessary for 80 to 84 crore people. In India one among every two children and women are suffering with anemia. Their right of honored life is not possible until their food security should be ensured. Two third people are forced to sleep hungry due to doubtful definition and method of identification of line of poverty. When government is saying that they provide 25 kg low cost ration to the families living below poverty line (doubtful and very small), we find ‘Mahadev of Savar” in this government, because government is providing half serving to the plates of people living with poverty and hunger. Dal, edible oil and other coarse nutritive cereals are not included in this. In this context although stomach bag has getting some but their nutritive requirements could not be fulfilled. It is necessary that jwar, maize, bajra and ragi should also be included in the list of wheat and rice and the quantity increased to 60 kg. In addition to this right to dal and oil on inexpensive rates should also be set.

Today initiative of preparing National Food Security Act is some how strengthening. Exercise of this act is performing in such a phase when India is considered as fast growing economy (growth without employment and generating social insecurity in actual). Most of the malnourished children are also living in this country. 360 Arabpatis are here but 93% working population is in unorganized sector. Cost of food grains are going very high, condition and direction of production is changing. Protection of government is diverging from farmers, women and disabled. Hunger is showing mirror of truth to our growth claims but government turns its face again and again.

Where is food security of half of the population?

In India 427 lac women lost their virtual due to lack of nutrition, discrimination, various types of violence and molest. By nature number of males and females will be equal but in India 48.2% of total population are females. In this country 301 women per one lac live births dies due to labour related causes, this condition keeps India in the list of worst condition countries. According to this every year approximately 70 thousands maternal deaths occurs in India and the anaemia is major cause of these deaths because their nutritional requirement are not fulfilled. National family Health Survey reported that only 39.8% women gets limited quantity of milk or curd daily. 47.3% women gets dal or gram occasionally. 55.3% women are anaemic and 35.6% are malnourished.

In some cases, like low birth weight, our status is worse even from Morocco, Malawi, Chad and Eritrea. In India 28% children having low weight at birth. From last one and half decade National Maternal Benefit scheme was operated for this purpose only thus government can provide definite amount to women before 4 to 12 weeks of delivery so that they can fulfill their nutritional requirements, but after initiation of Janani Suraksha Yojna (under which cash incentive is being provided for institutional delivery), this scheme is neglected. Government is not providing assistance when needed then now! Women could get justice only when right to food will include in National Food Security Act.

Single and widow women

In developing country like India, 60 to 80% grain production is by women hand. But due to traditional and cultural references principal of taking food after all, very low in quantity and some times not to eat is in prevalence for women. Root cause for discrimination with women is dominance and resources where base is thinking of paternal dominance. In this condition think about women those are single, widow or divorced. These women are affected from sexual attack and forced to keep quite under pressure. They had no protection. Thousands of case of sexual torture came forward after Orissa cyclone in 1999, Gujarat earthquake in 2001, communal brutality in 2002. This category of women is unable to get protection from community even not from family. This is not a small group. According to 2001 census, 6.9% women in India are divorced or separated. In addition to this 1.4% women of more than 30 years are unmarried and can be considered as single. Thus 7.5% Indian women are single and this number is four crore means more than population of Canada. Out of these 2 crore women are more than 60 years of age and our experience of existing traditional community structure told that these women faces social exclusion every moment question of their food security is also big as question of life! Right of food to these category women at a level might provides them right of dignity.

Society of Urban Slums

Urban slums and there residents are tried to established like a stain over society in a well planned manner. It is stated that they are criminals, they perform illegal activities, they are dirty. If we want development they should the discarded out of the city. But this is a false statement. Envisaged that if residents of slums moves on a weeks strike what will be your life? Does school vans comes for your children, does house works be carried out, do you get vegetables, does city gets cleaned? No!! they are wheels of your life. Then talk for their upliftment up to our status not to destroy them. In India 420 lac population resides in listed slums of 640 city and the truth of their life is half empty stomach. There are 52 thousand slums but only half of them are legal. It is surprising that 17 crore children are living in this so called illegal slums and living hunger with unhygiene. They neither get permanent address nor identification, drinking water, electricity and cleanliness.

They could not spend more on nutritious food due to less income. Eighth report (page 62) of Commissioners of Supreme Court reported that in India 46% children are malnourished but in urban slums 70% children become malnourished due to hunger. This urban society uptakes only 9.55 kg food grains per month. There is requirement of operation of 2970 Anganwadi Centres in these slums but in discussion of legal-illegal these children could not get right of nutrition. Residents of slums working in such unhygienic conditions, which causes several diseases and long lasting starvation reduces their immunity also. Living life in these slums is a challenge of every day but why this much of hesitation in providing them right to food security? Does we not initiating discrimination in our society itself?

Pain of old age

The strategic blindness should be treated which throw out conditions of elder people of society from indicators of poverty. Definition of development which we are applying does not have respect and place for the persons, who does not play active role in economic activities by own labour. Those elders struggles with social exclusion and forced to live with hunger. During old age, age is not a cause of pain, but when a women become elder the pain double, in case of disability it becomes four times and in condition of Dalit is multiplies many times. Those who are landless and shelter less they did might not have right of living. This category faces large need of health and nutritional requirements. According to 2001 census population of more than 60 years of age was 7.7 crore which increases to 30 crore in next 50 years. Average age of women in India is higher then there will be more women. These will be treated as “load”, in this circumstances role of state for their protection in addition to change social mentality will also increases. According to a study every 1000 working population have to provide physical, mental and protection to 141 persons. In India 12750358 elders are getting benefit of Indira Gandhi National Oldage Pension Scheme while remaining 85 lac are not benefited from this scheme. There is a need to mould benefit of this scheme as legal right.

Disability

Existing schemes closes eyes on food security of shelter less, children not attending schools and disabled. Out of these crisis for disabled persons is very deep. In India 7285117 disabled persons are below poverty line but out of these only 2684152 means 37% are benefited by disabled pension scheme. Definitely, this category is mostly not covered under government protection.