JOIN US Make right to food a fundamental right, said D Raja, Communist Party of India (CPI) national secretary at a protest held in Delhi on Tuesday.
Several known activists and MPs participated in this protest and raised concerns over the National Food Security Bill, which seeks to provide legal entitlement of foodgrain to 63 per cent of the country’s population, arguing that it is based on a “narrow vision.”
“There is enough food to feed our country but the government lacks the political will to get rid of starvation and hunger. Till date, starvation death cases are being reported when tonnes of grains are being wasted,” said Raja.
He urged the government to amend the existing bill tabled in Parliament to ensure that every person gets at least 35 kgs of foodgrain.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Prakash Javadekar, Kavita Krishnan from CPI (ML) and activist Aruna Roy also addressed the rally where hundreds gathered from 15 states, including Karnataka and Assam, to raise their demands for universal public distribution system.
Activists demanded that the government should guarantee that Right to Food becomes a fundamental right.
Javadekar ridiculed the idea of the above poverty line and below poverty line, linking it to the movie ‘Deewar’ which separated Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor in the blockbuster film.
“If BJP is voted to power, we will bring the Food Bill being demanded by the campaign,” he said.
Roy demanded immediate release of 80 million metric tonnes of foodgrain for distribution among the poor. “The government is keen to export it as animal feed and they are even giving subsidies to manufacturers, but are not willing to distribute food grains to its own people,” she said.