[Reader-list] RTF (Right to Food) Articles - 15

[Rakesh Iyer]

Source: The Hindu

Date: Friday, Apr 25, 2003

Link: http://www.hinduonnet.com/2003/04/25/stories/2003042502231300.htm

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* Towards an accurate BPL survey *

By Our Staff Correspondent

 NEW DELHI APRIL 24. When Government officers are sent to villages to
conduct a survey of the people living below the poverty line (BPL), all they
do is stay put in the house of the `sarpanch' and write the report on the
basis of what he feeds them.

This is a common practice across the country and it also happens in the
constituencies of the Prime Minister and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

Little wonder then that the below poverty line survey reports are never
considered authentic.

But all this may soon be a thing of the past. "This time, when the officers
came for the survey, a group of women went to the sarpanch's house and
wanted them to actually visit every house for an accurate survey. The men
did go to the houses but the kind of questions they asked were totally
irrelevant,'' says Raj Dulari. She was one of the women participants at the
"Sangharsh Sabha", which seeks a new food policy to provide low-priced
foodgrains and work for all.

The day-long convention was organised by the All-India Democratic Women's
Association (AIDWA) here today to mark 10 years of the 73rd and 74th
Constitutional amendment.

"The Prime Minister and the Chief Minister could do us a great favour by
diverting the money spent in organising rallies for setting up industries
where the poor and Dalits could get jobs," says Raj Dulari.

Laxmibai of Rangareddy district in Andhra Pradesh has another story to tell.
The foodgrain received under various Government schemes is either sold in
the blackmarket or the sarpanchs refuse to distribute it.

"The Government has also increased the prices of the subsidised foodgrain
from Rs. 2 per kg to Rs. 5.50 per kg and reduced the quantity to 4 kg per
head. The result is that the people are forced to sell their young
daughters, mortgage their wives or even commit suicide," she said.

The convention resolved to intensify women's struggle for a new food policy
based on the universalisation of the Public Distribution System, low-priced
and edible foodgrain and employment guarantee schemes.

It supported the strike call given by the trade unions on May 21 and
appealed to all sections to include as an important demand the right to food
and work.

Reiterating their demand for the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill,
the participants said that the official definition `empowerment' was
meaningless without addressing vital issues, the most important being the
guarantee of the right to food and work for women.

Inaugurating the convention, the CPI (M) leader, Harkishen Singh Surjeet,
said the Government did not seem committed to pass the Women's Reservation
Bill since it had been a decade since women were given reservation in
Panchayats.

"When large sections of women are struggling just to ensure the survival of
their families and themselves, the full potential of 73rd and 74th amendment
cannot be realised. Thus, the demand for food and work is related to
strengthening the processes of democracy and women's participation," said
Brinda Karat of the AIDWA.