[Reader-list] Reg: Right to Food - Set 1 - Re-entry

[Rakesh Iyer]

Article 5:

Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061101/asp/northeast/story_6942356.asp

Article:

Dispur has let poor down: apex court
P. BRAHMA CHOUDHURY

*Kokrajhar, Oct. 31:* The Supreme Court has found Dispur guilty of denying
basic rights to the poorest of the poor, exposing in the process the
hollowness of the ruling Congress’s *garibi hatao *slogan.

In a letter to chief secretary S. Kabilan, the Supreme Court’s special
commissioner Harsh Mander and commissioner N.C. Saxena have pointed out
Dispur’s failure to address the issues of food security, right to food and
right to work.

The letter dated October 20 — The Telegraph has a copy — states that Assam
has been ignoring directives from the Supreme Court on implementing schemes
for the poor.

“Based on our sixth report submitted to the Supreme Court in December 2005,
following issues have emerged with regard to the state of Assam, which
demands immediate intervention by the state government. Many of the Supreme
Court orders are not complied with in the state, which essentially means
denial of their basic rights to the poorest,” the letter says.

The missive from the Supreme Court mentions lacunae in the implementation of
centrally-sponsored programmes like the Integrated Child Development
Services, the midday meal scheme, Sampoorn Grameen Rozgar Yojana, National
Social Assistance Programme and Annapurna, national maternity benefit
schemes and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

Quoting from an annual report of the department of women and child
development, the letter says only 24 per cent of the sanctioned *Anganwadis
*are operational in Assam. “This is a grave violation of the Supreme Court
order dated 29.04.04, which clearly stated that all the sanctioned AWCs were
to be made fully operational by 30.04.04.”

The letter also states that since January 2005, cooked meals under the
midday meal scheme have been provided to students in schools of Dhubri for
merely 15 days and only two days each in Udalguri and Darrang districts. The
programme has not been implemented in Chirang and Bongaigaon at all.

“In the districts of Bongaigaon and Chirang, teachers have been officially
told to sell three days worth of rations every month in order to pay the
cooking staff,” the letter points out. “Although it is astounding that as
per the Food Grain Bulletin of the ministry of food and public distribution,
the rice allocated to Assam for midday meal scheme was 101.63 thousand
tonnes and the offtake was as high as 87.28 thousand tonnes, thereby
indicating 86 per cent offtake of grains for the schemes in the year
2004-05… implementation of the scheme in the state leaves gaps that need
explanation.”

Kabilan said the state planning and development department had begun
implementing remedial steps.