[Reader-list] Articles on Right to Food

[Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi]

Sir,
         is that or islamism and fanatism......!

Regards,

Rajen.

On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 2:57 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>wrote:

> Dear Rakesh,
>
> Thank you for posting articles on the right to food. This follows
> also on the discussions initiated by Rana's excellent article on
> Delhi (which I appreciate very much despite my reservations about his
> deployment of the word 'socialism)
>
> I hope their can be fruitful discussion on these matters. And that
> the list will once again demonstrate that it is not willing to be
> monopolized by the petty and paranoiac agenda of Hindutva and
> Nationalism.
>
> regards
>
> Shuddha
>
>
> On 31-Jul-09, at 10:15 AM, Rakesh Iyer wrote:
>
> > Dear all
> >
> > Having been inspired by Taha jee's constant articles on the UID, I
> > have
> > thought that we also need to pass on articles on other issues as
> > well. And
> > therefore, I have decided to post articles on the Right to Food, an
> > important issue which needs to be looked at. This issue is
> > important for
> > people of all religions as well, so unlike say the UID, it won't
> > have a bias
> > too. And plus of course, it's something which needs to be looked at
> > seriously for the huge no. of poor people in this country.
> >
> > To begin with, I post this article from livemint.com, which talks
> > about how
> > we can tackle India's hunger. I think it would be of great use for
> > us to
> > understand this issue, for it really gives them freedom from
> > hunger, and
> > makes it an entitlement for them. Combined with NREGA and RTI, it
> > would be
> > nothing short of revolutionary to achieve them. And as Pawan ji's
> > status msg
> > always says: 'The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is
> > ripe. You
> > have to make it fall'. And efforts are being made to fall the apple.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Rakesh
> >
> > Link:
> > http://www.livemint.com/2009/07/02205358/How-to-tackle-India8217s-
> > hu.html
> > How to tackle India’s hunger
> > As India starts legislating on food security, there is much it
> > could learn
> > from laws and practices abroad
> >  Biraj Patnaik
> >
> >
> > The manifesto of the Congress party promised the enactment of a
> > Right to
> > Food Act, if the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was voted back
> > to power.
> > A preliminary shape of such an Act has emerged in what was reported
> > in the
> > media as the very first letter from Congress president Sonia Gandhi
> > to Prime
> > Minister Manmohan Singh. The UPA government hopes to repeat through
> > the
> > passage of this Act what it had achieved during its last term
> > through the
> > National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)—a vision for more
> > inclusive
> > governance.
> >
> > [image: Indranil Bhoumik / Mint]
> >
> > Indranil Bhoumik / Mint
> >
> > At the heart of the idea of the right to food is a very simple
> > premise. That
> > no citizen of a country should go hungry, and that each citizen
> > should at
> > all times have physical access to, or the means to acquire, adequate
> > nutritious food. It is time India delivered on this.
> >
> > Few countries in the world can claim to have achieved this fully,
> > and, till
> > recently, fewer still have legislated it. The reasons for this are not
> > difficult to comprehend. Only a handful of developed countries have
> > the
> > resources and the social commitment to welfarism to make this happen.
> >
> > Some countries, such as the US, which actually have the resources
> > to achieve
> > the goal of a country free from hunger, do not legislate it. To
> > them, such
> > socio-economic rights are seen as a throwback to the Cold War, when
> > the
> > international debates between the socialist block and the US were
> > on the
> > superiority of civil and political rights over socio-economic rights.
> >
> > But the idea of nation states guaranteeing citizens the right to
> > food is not
> > a new one. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
> > adopted
> > by all United Nations member states in 1948, lists among a state’s
> > obligation the right to food.
> >
> > Closer home, article 21 of the Constitution, which provides a
> > fundamental
> > right to life and personal liberty, has been repeatedly interpreted
> > by the
> > Supreme Court as enshrining within it the right to food. Article 47
> > obliges
> > the Indian state to raise the standard of nutrition of its people.
> >
> > Despite this, India continues to have one of the worst track records
> > globally, as far as the commitment to tackle hunger and
> > malnutrition is
> > concerned. The last round of the National Family Health Survey in 2006
> > confirmed that the child malnutrition rate in India is 46%, almost
> > double
> > that of sub-Saharan Africa. India, the world’s second fastest growing
> > economy, ranks 66th among the 88 countries surveyed by the
> > International
> > Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) in the Global Hunger Index
> > (2008),
> > below Sudan, Nigeria and Cameroon, and slightly above Bangladesh.
> >
> > Yet, India has also seen some of the most remarkable judicial activism
> > anywhere in the world on the right to food. The landmark *PUCL v.
> > Union of
> > India and others (2001)* case, better known as the right to food
> > case, has
> > seen at least 60 orders over the last eight years, and has emerged
> > as the
> > longest continuing mandamus—a legal writ where the court orders a
> > person or
> > entity to do something—in the world on the right to food. Somehow,
> > until
> > recently, this judicial activism hasn’t translated into
> > legislation. Now is
> > the opportunity for India to deliver—and learn from similar
> > legislation
> > abroad.
> >
> > Over the last few years, there has been a slew of legislation
> > across the
> > world which recognize the right to food as a fundamental right and
> > provide
> > state guarantees.
> >
> > South Africa was among the first countries in the world to explicitly
> > guarantee the right to food in its constitution through its Bill of
> > rights.
> > The Brazilian constitution in 1998 introduced a minimum wage to
> > meet basic
> > needs, including food; the constitution was further modified in
> > 2003 to
> > introduce the concept of social rights for every citizen, including
> > the
> > right to food. This process culminated in Brazil’s Nutritional
> > Security
> > Framework Law (Losan) in 2006, which created a set of institutions for
> > monitoring the right to food, and is likely to be the most lasting
> > legacy of
> > President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva. Article 16 of the Bolivian
> > constitution
> > explicitly states, “Every person has the right to water and food.
> > The State
> > has the obligation to guarantee food security for all through healthy,
> > adequate and sufficient food.” Even Belarus and Moldova have clear
> > constitutional guarantees on the right to food.
> >
> > Argentina (2003) and Guatemala (2005) were the first South American
> > countries to introduce framework laws on food security, closely
> > followed by
> > Ecuador (2006) and Venezuela (2008).
> >
> > South Africa, Honduras, Peru, Nicaragua and Uganda have already
> > drafted
> > right to food legislation that is being actively considered by their
> > respective cabinets and parliaments.
> >
> > So what are the key lessons India can learn from this rich range of
> > international experience on right to food legislation and the
> > practice they
> > have been put to?
> >
> > The first key lesson is that of political commitment of the
> > leadership to
> > the idea of right to food. A case in point would be a comparison
> > between
> > South Africa and Brazil. While South Africa guaranteed the right to
> > food in
> > its constitution in 1996 through a Bill of rights, the absence of
> > political
> > will to turn this into reality means that millions of South Africans
> > continue their daily encounter with hunger. In stark contrast, the
> > determination of the Brazilian president to eliminate hunger was
> > evident in
> > his inaugural speech when he announced the “*Fome* Zero”, or “Zero
> > Hunger”,
> > programme. “We will make it possible for people in our country to
> > eat three
> > square meals a day, every day, with no need for hand-outs from
> > anyone.” It
> > is this unambiguous commitment that continues to be at the heart of
> > Brazil’s
> > battle against hunger.
> >
> > The second key lesson is convergence. The right to food cuts across
> > programmes of many sectors—including health, nutrition, agriculture,
> > livelihoods, and labour. This means that in any context, at least a
> > dozen
> > ministries will be operating programmes that have some impact on
> > the right.
> > Converging all of these under a central leadership is critical. Brazil
> > converged as many as 31 programmes which are now overseen by the
> > ministry of
> > food security and combating hunger. In the context of India, nine
> > programmes
> > run by five ministries, along with agencies such as the Food
> > Corporation of
> > India, are the respondents in the right to food case before the
> > Supreme
> > Court. It is imperative that our proposed legislation brings
> > together all
> > these programmes on a single converged platform. The state
> > government of
> > Delhi is currently undertaking a “Mission Convergence” with
> > precisely this
> > objective in mind.
> >
> > The third key lesson is creating a system of not just
> > administrative, but
> > also legal recourse. This is a key feature of the right to food
> > Acts across
> > countries. In Brazil, the public prosecutors’ office take up
> > violations of
> > human rights, including socio-economic rights, at the local level.
> > Guatemala, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Uganda and South Africa have
> > already put
> > in place or proposed powerful national commissions that act as
> > oversight
> > bodies and also have the power to impose penalties. Although the
> > Supreme
> > Court has appointed its own commissioners to monitor the food and
> > employment
> > schemes of the Indian government, these commissioners do not have
> > the kind
> > of statutory powers to impose penalties that the bodies in other
> > countries
> > do.
> >
> > The fourth key lesson is the involvement of civil society. All
> > countries
> > which have legislated the right to food have involved civil society
> > organizations, not just in local structures, but also in the
> > national-level
> > oversight bodies. Consea, the Brazilian council that oversees the
> > implementation of the right to food, has as many as 38 civil society
> > representatives. It is important that this engagement is not just
> > in letter,
> > but also in spirit, with governments taking civil society as
> > seriously as it
> > does its own bureaucracy and legislature. Most other countries have
> > also
> > involved civil society in the process of formulating their right to
> > food
> > legislation.
> >
> > Lastly, the key to the success of right to food legislation has been
> > flexibility and innovation. Uganda has proposed including the “head
> > of the
> > household” as a duty bearer, with penalties—including fines and
> > imprisonment—imposed for non-fulfilment of right to food
> > obligations within
> > the family. While this may not be a desirable innovation for India,
> > it is
> > specific to the national context there. Venezuela, Guatemala and
> > Ecuador
> > have a strong component of food sovereignty, with strong safeguards
> > against
> > genetically modified foods.
> >
> > The right to food Acts legislated globally are not only leading to
> > stronger
> > legal safeguards for poor and marginalized people, they are also
> > translating
> > into other policies and programmes. These include canteens in urban
> > areas
> > for the poor that serve cooked food at subsidized prices, cash
> > transfer
> > schemes, school meals, supplementary nutrition for infants, minimum
> > food
> > guarantees for labour and social security pensions.
> >
> > While there is a lot that India can learn from the global
> > experience, it can
> > also contribute uniquely to the international discourse on
> > legislation on
> > the right to food. Most of the laws mentioned above are framework
> > pieces of
> > legislation which define the broad parameters of the right to food.
> > The
> > Supreme Court has already established very detailed individual
> > entitlements
> > that are legally binding on the government. These include universal
> > mid-day
> > meals to every child studying in a government-run or aided primary
> > school,
> > nutrition, health and preschool education services through the
> > Integrated
> > Child Development Services for every child under the age of 6,
> > subsidized
> > grain to households living below the poverty line and monthly
> > pensions for
> > old people living below the poverty line.
> >
> > A Right to Food Act that weaves these legally binding entitlements
> > into the
> > text and spirit of the law will set a unique precedent globally.
> > Are our
> > lawmakers ready to take on this challenge?
> >
> >
> > *Biraj Patnaik is principal adviser to the Supreme Court
> > commissioners on
> > the right to food. He has been actively involved in the Right to Food
> > Campaign in India. The views expressed in this article are his own.
> > Comments
> > are welcome at theirview at livemint.com*
> > _________________________________________
> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> > Critiques & Collaborations
> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> > subscribe in the subject header.
> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> > List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> The Sarai Programme at CSDS
> Raqs Media Collective
> shuddha at sarai.net
> www.sarai.net
> www.raqsmediacollective.net
>
>
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>



-- 
Rajen.