Legal Rights: The Peoples’ Right to Food

Legal rights of citizens include the right to live with dignity as enshrined in the Constitution of India. This includes the legal right to have food. Now, if you visit a food outlet in India, you will definitely be surprised at the huge number of customers gathered there, enjoying food over conversation. Yet, nobody can deny the fact that a significant proportion of India’s population remains too poor to afford such a luxury. True, a huge chunk of the Indian middle class segment continues to raid food outlets and retail stores, but there are many Indians who are starving and not able to afford good food. The gap between the rich and the poor in India is growing in a disproportionate way. Statistics show that nearly 50% of the country’s children are malnourished. They suffer from diseases that can not be cured. Such a situation is unjust, considering that India is a surplus producer of grains. There is an urgent need to rectify this situation and ensure adequate food for the country’s population.

Good Administrative Governance Is a Must for Implementing Legal Rights of Citizens

The government of India has taken several steps to rectify this problem and ensure adequate food availability for all citizens. It is accepted that people have legal rights but the government on its own cannot feed every starving citizen. An effective administrative policy should be the machinery through which the government can make this work.

 Here are some popular schemes implemented by the government:

• The Mid-Day Meal Scheme for school children.
• The Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) for children in the age groups 0-6 years, adolescent girls, and pregnant and lactating women.
• The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment.
• A Pension Scheme and a Free Grain Supply Scheme for Destitute persons above 65 years.

The official buzz is that the Central government wants to enforce the legal right to food by enacting a new law. However, this cannot help unless the country’s administrative process is transparent, accountable and following the norms of good governance. Corrupt individuals within the system are known to steal the benefits that are meant for the poor and the starving people. Other illegal practices include hoarding of food items by a few people to further their vested interests.

Proposed Laws to Ensure Implementation of Legal Right to Food

The current Indian Government has proposed to enact a Right to Food Act to guarantee 25 kgs of grain at Rs 3/kg to those who live below the poverty line. Various civil society groups are campaigning for the new Act to consider the following issues as well:

• Revitalize agriculture production by encouraging people to produce more pulses, oilseeds and millets and offer them with incentives. Wheat and rice are the two major commodities that are currently being produced in India.
• Export of food items should be banned until the problem of malnourishment is resolved.
• A universal public distribution system should be set up and operated through local grain banks. The government’s suggestion of a cash transfer policy instead of food transfer is not appropriate as it can lead to misappropriation of funds.
• Besides providing ration for people, there should be pension schemes and other schemes to protect those who are socially discriminated and/or belonging to vulnerable groups.
• There should be no dilution of the Supreme Court orders regarding ICDS, mid-day meals, family pension scheme, old-age pension and similar schemes.
• Special measures to provide food during national emergencies such as when there is a war, natural disaster and so on should be incorporated.
• Adequate safeguards should be put in place to prevent corporate invasion of interests violating the food policy.
• An effective grieviance redressal system is essential to punish wrongdoers.

A bold, reliable administrative system will ensure that the food policy programs will not be misused by corrupt officials and that the actual benefits reach the poor and the starving sections of the Indian society.