Positive impact starts reporting in from the yatra on Right to Food and Work in West Bengal

 Press Release

3 October 2012

As the West Bengal yatra on Right to Food and Work in West Bengal finished second day today, some positive results were reported from two blocks in Nadia district. In Tehatta II block, 450 people submitted their applications to the Food Inspector during a meeting with the BDO, where the former was also present, along with the CDPO of the ICDS program. When the yatra moved to the next block in Nakashipara, and met the BDO with the demands, where he instructed the Food Inspector, to accept applications and issue new ration cards keeping aside panchayat's recommendation and party affiliations.

Purulia district saw local people taking interest and distributing handbills and poster-ing walls on their own. Today, the yatra started from Manbazar I block, and after covering several panchayats entered Barabazar, one of the important blocks, where it raised slogans and campaigned outside the BDO's office. The yatra then moved to Berada Gram Panchayat and had two pathayatras, which included a meeting with Panchayat office members and the village pradhan. Balarampur block was covered after that where street corner meetings were held in important landmarks such as the bus stop and bazaars. Finally, it moved to Purulia 1 block, where meetings were organised in haats. In Manara gram panchayat, the yatra was stopped by people assuming that it was taken out on behalf of a political party, and objective was to garner votes before the forthcoming panchayat elections.

South 24 Parganas district, an island district affected by Cyclone Aila in 2009 and subsequent floods every year, is one of the poor areas where food security is a crucial question. The yatra in the district is co-organised by Gosaba Anwesha for Science, New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), Shramajivee Mahila Samity (SMS), Sundarban Bonadhikar Sangram Committee and Udayani Social Action Forum. The yatra started from the bazaar in Kakdwip block, covering several gram panchayats, and moving to Namkhana block where a rally was taken out. It will commence from here tomorrow.

Binpur 2 in the Jhargram sub-division of Paschim Medinipur district, is a naxal affected area where the state is giving foodgains for Rs. 2 under the Public Distribution System, continues to be a hunger-zone area. A padayatra was taken out there of more than 200 people.  

More updates from Bankura district will come in as they are reported.

For more details, please contact:

Saradindu Biswas        

Ph: 9433342488          

West Bengal Yatra of the Right to Food and Work Campaign flags off

Press Release

2 October 2012

The Right to Food and Work Campaign-West Bengal started today demanding food security for all as part of the nationwide campaign.

In Purulia, the yatra started a day earlier. On 1 October 2012, the rally began at Joynagar bus stand in Purulia 2 Block, where over 250 members of PBKMS and SMS took out a rally in the morning at 9am.

In Hura block, more than 600 members of Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS) and Shramajivee Mahila Samity (SMS) rallied from Lakshmanpur Village in Lakshmanpur Gram Panchayat till Gandhi Maidan where an oath taking ceremony was held where people resolved to keep fighting till their demands on food security are met. People from the neighbouring villages joined in here and the meeting gained in number and strength. From there, a vehicle rally campaigned in a weekly haat.

Today, a padayatra was taken out from Lalpur mor in Hura block of Purulia, where it crossed many villages and crossed to Puncha block, where 2000 agricultural workers and members of PBKMS rallied ending in a public meeting. The second day yatra in this district ended at Pairachali at Manbazar 2, from where it shall convene tomorrow again. The two days in the district has generated much interest among villagers and local media.

A vehicle rally kicked off the campaign in Keshpur block of Paschim Medinipur district. The rally with flags and banners (majority red) was stopped by the ruling political party at three places. TMC members, the ruling party in the block along with other villagers were much interested with the reasons and organisers of the campaign, mistaking us on behalf of the opposition party. Numerous street corner meetings were held, with wall postering and listing of demands. Local TMC members followed the van till they were assured of the objectives and demand of the campaign. As the van crossed Anandapur police station, the Officer-in-charge stopped the van and asked for a permission, which even after it was showed to them, asked the yatra to leave for 'security' concerns and followed us under the garb of 'protection' till we left the block. Even after all the odds, the yatra ended at 5pm, only to be continued tomorrow.

In Nadia district, a pathasabha (padayatra) was taken out in Dhubulia in Krishnagar 2 Block. Members of PBKMS and (SMS took out a rally which crossed through the main streets of the town. A lot of interest was generated by the shopkeepers and some joined in as the rally passed. Another public meeting is being held in Pukhuria village in Chapra block from where the yatra will again commence tomorrow.

For more details, please contact:

Saradindu Biswas        

Ph: 9433342488         

Please find below a list of participating organisations in every district:

Districts	Organisation
Bankura	New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), Rural Development Society, Shramajivee Mahila Samity (SMS) and Udayani Social Action Forum
Birbhum	Uthnau and one more
Burdwan	PHE Workers Union and Udayani Social Action Forum
Darjeeling	North Bengal Right to Food Campaign
Jalpaiguri	Joint Bagan Bachao Progress Committee and People Progressive Plantation Workers Union
Kolkata	Griha Adhikar Manch, Haathgacchiya Basti Unnayan Committee, Jiban o Jeebika Uchhed Protirodh Committee (Prostuti), Nari Sanghati Committee (Boral), NTUI, Right Track, Tiljala Shed and Udayini Social Action Forum
Malda	Malda Sahayogita Samity
Murshidabad	MASUM and PHE Workers union
Nadia	APDR, Bidi Sramik Union-Tehotta, PBKMS, PHE Workers Union, NTUI and SMS
North 24 Parganas	APDR, NTUI, PBKMS, SMS and Shramajivee Samanvay Committee,
Paschim Medinipur	Majhi Jagran Kalyan Samiti, PBKMS, NTUI, SMS and one more
Purulia	NTUI, PBKMS and SMS
South 24 Parganas	Gosaba Anwesha for Science, NTUI, PBKMS, SMS, Sundarban Bonadhikar Sangram Committee and Udayani Social Action Forum

The Country Demands Food Security For All APL BPL Khatam Karo Taala Kholo, KhaanaDo Stop Theft In The PDS

43% children suffering from malnutrition. 40% women anaemic.

Reports of hunger and starvation deaths from all corners of the country

India is one of the three countries where the hunger index between 1996 and 2011 has gone up from 22.9 to 23.7. On the other hand 78 out of the 81 developing countries studied, including Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Kenya, Nigeria, Myanmar, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Malawi, have all succeeded in improving their scores.

This was also the time when the Indian growth story in the middle of a world recession made us heroes in the world. It was also the period when we have managed to increase our buffer stocks of food to 8.5 crores metric tonnes. We continue to export food grains to feed the cattle of the developed countries while our own people go hungry.

It is in such a context that we must look at the UPA II’s plan to pass the National Food Security Bill in November- December during the forthcoming winter session of Parliament. The Bill is to say the least a damp squib. It talks about food security without in any way dealing with the causes of food insecurity- increasing joblessness, low wages, landlessness, the increasing displacement of people and encroaching upon their jal, jangal and jameen. It also does not mention the present agrarian crisis or the farmer suicides nor outlines any steps by which farmers will be supported and food production will be ensured within the country.

In terms of entitlements also, it takes the much ridiculed and flawed system of targeting one step further, by dividing the population into three categories –i) the excluded, who will get no food grains; ii)  the priority groups who will get 7 kgs of food grains per head per month at Rs. 3 for rice, Rs.2 for wheat and Rs.1 for coarse grains; and iii) the general group who will get 5 kgs of food grains per head per month at half the Minimum Support Price (the price at which grain is procured from farmers).

Indian Council of Medical Research, the prestigious research organisation on medical matters places the cereal requirements at 14 kgs per month for an adult. However, ignoring this, there are now reports that the Government is planning a system to cover 67% of our population, reducing allotments from the present 7 kgs per head per month to 5 kgs per head per month. Thus, in the face of increasing hunger, the Government has come up with a brilliant plan- reduce food entitlements further! To make things worse, there is no sign that the Government is even considering to provide pulses and cooking oil, essentials for good nutrition, at subsidised prices.

In fact, by sleight of hand, the Government while pretending to pass a Food Security Act is actually reducing its expenditure on food in the PDS through the new Bill. Where it used to spend Rs.89,272 crores on PDS alone, its latest plan is to spend Rs.116510 crores on all schemes- PDS, MDMS and ICDS. This is likely to involve a reduction in expenditure on the PDS. Food grains allocation are planned to be raised from 56.4 million metric tonnes for the PDS to 61.5 million metric tonnes, of which about 8 million tonnes is for the ICDS and MDMS, leaving a reduced amount of 53.5 million tonnes for the PDS.

We thus have a law being passed to reduce the amount many of us receive from 7 kgs per card to 5 kgs per card and to reduce the total amount spent on food. To make matters worse the new Bill has a very weak redressal system, which means that theft and corruption will have little remedy. It is also trying to push a regime of cash instead of food through the back door through some of its provisions.   

We say- stop fooling us!

We demand:

• Open the doors of the godowns and distribute the 8.5 crores of food grains that you have locked up to the hungry of this country immediately.
• Provide food grains to everyone in the 200 poorest districts immediately as a first step and then move towards universal coverage under the PDS.
• Stop theft in the PDS system immediately. Let us get rid of all the bogus cards- each ration dealer has at least 500-800 such cards. Let us break the nexus between the ration dealers, the whole sale retailers, mill owners, the Food Department and the politicians. We want a clean, transparent, well run rationing system
• Pass a genuine Food Security Bill with strong redressal mechanisms.
• Remove this false difference between APL and BPL. Ensure that everyone in this country gets the medically necessary 14 kgs of food grains per head per month. Give us pulses and cooking oil at subsidised rates through the PDS.
• Ensure an agrarian revival by making remunerative support prices for farmers a legal guarantee and ensuring that food grains required for the PDS are procured in a decentralised manner from farmers all over the country at these remunerative prices.

Join us in our nation-wide campaign. Join the Yatra in your state to highlight these issues from 2 to 15 October 2012

And, join us at the mass meeting for Eastern India in Jamshedpur where state wide yatras from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal will culminate on 16 October 2012.  

Khadyan Adhikar Yatra -Orissa,  Right to Food Campaign-Bihar, Right to Food and Work Campaign -West Bengal , Roti Rozi Adhikar Abhiyan -Jharkhand, Roti Rozi Adhikar Abhiyan Chattisgarh, New Trade Union Initiative

Police officer: "What do you mean we can't arrest you? Why were you clinging to a tree and shouting 'Hao Mao'?"

'Hao Mao Kao' are nonsense words used by ghosts in children's stories in Bengal.