Transcript The Right to Food in India The Food Security Scenario in South Asia Country Food Production Food Exports Food Imports Food Balance Bangladesh 26,924 1.6 2,827 -4,601 India 1,74,655 9,490 23,826 Nepal 5,839 Pakistan 24,936 2,966 3,818 Sri Lanka 1,938 9.8 1,307 Source: FAO, 2004.

The Right to Food in India
The Food Security Scenario in
South Asia
Country
Food
Production
Food Exports
Food Imports
Food Balance
Bangladesh
26,924
1.6
2,827
-4,601
India
1,74,655
9,490
56
23,826
Nepal
5,839
11
39
57
Pakistan
24,936
2,966
288
3,818
Sri Lanka
1,938
9.8
1,307
252
Source: FAO, 2004. Figures in thousand metric tones for 2002
Some Indicators for Child Wellbeing and malnutrition in South Asia
Bangladesh
India
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
5
15
23
15
27
36
44
30
15
20
27
20
20
35
33
35
1
3
4
3
48
43
13
46
46
16
48
51
10
38
37
13
29
14
14
Immunization
(% of children under 3 years who have not
received the stated vaccine)
BCG
DTP3
MCV
Pol3
Child undernutrition
(% of children with the stated condition)
Underweight
Stunting
Wasting
Infant and child mortality
(per 1,000 live births)
Infant mortality rate
56
62
59
80
12
Under-five mortality rate
77
85
76
101
14
India’s Annual Growth Rate
Year
GDP
Per capita income
1951-79
3.6
1.3
1980-91
5.6
3.5
1992-06
6.5
4.7
Population, GDP and Foodgrain Production
1400
1200
Population
1000
800
GDP
600
Foodgrain
Production
400
200
0
1951
1961
1971
1981
1991
2001
2006
Growth of GDP in India
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003- 2004- 200593
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
annual increase 5.1
6.2
7.0
7.3
7.5
5.1
6.5
6.1
4.4
5.6
4.4
8.5
7.5
8.4
Worrying issues
• News of starvation deaths & farmers’ suicides from
many states
• Stagnant agricultural production, and falling food
availability
• Unemployment has increased from 4 to 8% in ten
years
• Regional disparities are increasing
• IMR stagnating around 60 per 1000, it is 46 in
Bangladesh
• Immunisation coverage fell from 60 to 40% in 5 yrs
• More than 50% women are anemic
• 46% children are malnourished
• Declining child sex ratio during 1991-2001
• There is no will to improve administration in poor
states
Index number of Agricultural
Production
Index
of growth
1981-82
annual rate
100
4.4%
1990-91
148
2.8%
1996-97
176
0.2%
2004-05
179
Foodgrain Production (million tonnes)
215
205
195
185
175
165
Series1
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
199.4
192.3
203.6
209.8
196.8
211.9
174.2
210.8
Foodgrain exports in million tonnes
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Total exports
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
Total
4.685
12.385
10.308
0.753
28.131
% of Work Force dependent on
Agriculture
Poverty
Percentage
below
poverty
line
1973
56
1987
39
1994
35
1999
26?
2004
28
number of poor people in millions
350
53
65
78
70
67
Urban
Rural
247
239
234
201
236
0
1971
1981
1991
2001
2006
Social groups
1993-94
1999-2000
Percentage Share in
Percentage Share in
Total Rural Below
Population Poverty
Line
Total Rural Below
Population Poverty
Line
Scheduled
tribes
10.8
48.8
10.5
48.0
Scheduled
castes
21.1
45.7
20.4
38.4
Others
68.1
28.3
69.1
23.2
100.0
34.2
100.0
28.9
All households
There should be no food
insecurity in India
Both GDP and foodgrain production
have risen faster than the growth in
population over the last 50 years
And yet chronic hunger and starvation persist in large
sections of the population. There has been a
declining calorie consumption especially in the
bottom 30% of the population.
Net availability of foodgrains per capita per day in gms
500
480
460
440
420
400
1951
1956
1961
1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
Source: Report of Committee on Long Term Grain Policy, 2002
India has the largest food schemes
in the World
•
Entitlement Feeding Programmes
– ICDS (All Children under six, Pregnant and lactating mother)
– MDMS (All Primary School children)
•
Food Subsidy Programmes
– Targeted Public Distribution System (35 kgs/ month of subsidised food grains
– Annapurna (10 kgs of free food grain for destitute poor)
•
Employment Programmes
– National Rural Employment Scheme (100 days of employment at minimum
wages)
•
Social Safety Net Programmes
– National Old Age Pension Scheme (Monthly pension to BPL)
– National Family Benefit Scheme (Compensation in case of death of bread winner
to BPL families)
The Right to Food Case
• PUCL petition on hunger in Rajasthan in the Supreme
Court in 2001
• Emergence of the Right to Food Campaign
• Key Issues:
–
–
–
–
Making the Right to Food a Fundamental Right
Converting all existing schemes into entitlements
Tackling large scale malnutrition and chronic hunger
Securing employment as a fundamental right linked to the Right
to Food
• Longest continuing mandamus on the Right to Food in
the World
– 51 Interim Orders so far; more than 500 affidavits; nearly 70
Interim Applications
Highlights of Supreme Court
Orders on the Right to Food
• Converted all food and employment schemes into legal
entitlements
• Universalised food entitlement programmes for children
(ICDS for children under six and Mid Day Meal Scheme
for all primary school children)
• Instituted the independent mechanism of Commissioners
to the Supreme Court to monitor all food and
employment programmes
• Prevented the reduction of the “poverty line” from 36% to
26%
• Hauled up Government periodically by serving notice of
contempt of court on senior most Government
functionaries (Chief Secretaries)
Office of the Commissioners to the
Supreme Court (Writ 196/ 2001)
• Appointed by the Supreme Court to monitor all
food schemes in the Country
• Mandate extends to:
– Entitlement Feeding Programmes
• MDMS, ICDS
– Employment Programmes
• NREGS, SGRY I & II, NFFWP, RSVY
– Food Subsidy Programme
• TPDS, Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Annapurna Yojana
– Social Security Programmes
• Pensions (NOAPS, NMBS, NFBS)
How does the Office of the
Commissioners function?
• Honorary positions; work supported by funds
mandated by the Supreme Court
• Works through a secretariat (Delhi) and a
network of Advisers across India
• Make policy recommendations through:
– Rigorous participatory research
– Articulating alternative demands of State policy
– Participating in policy bodies such as Planning
Commission Steering Groups
How does the Office of the
Commissioners function? (cont’d.)
• Monitors programmes
– Through analysis of macro-data
– Addressing complaints at the micro-level
• Holds the State accountable by:
– Regular engagement with the GoI and State
Governments
– Joint Commission of Enquiries
– Regular reports on non-compliance to the
Supreme Court
Impact so far
• Universalisation of MDMS (120 million children get
school meals) and ICDS (Government would need to
double the ICDS centres to 1.4 million centres covering
60 million children under the age of six)
• Managed to restrict the lowering of BPL quotas by GoI
from 36% to 26%
• Increase in off-take of subsidised food-grains through the
targeted public distribution system
• Increased budgetary allocation for ICDS, Old Age
Pensions (3 times the amount)
• Passage of the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act which guarantees 100 days of employment a year (at
minimum wages)
Impact so far (cont’d.)
• Provided Civil Society an anchor to engage/
confront the State and created spaces for civil
society to engage in food/ employment
programmes
• Brought the discourse on food rights to the
centre-stage of governance in the States and
GoI
• Has been largely effective in provision of
gratuitous relief (Tea Garden Workers in West
Bengal).
• Created the environment for the passage of the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
Off-take of BPL/ AAY Food Grains
•
Figure 3.1: Percentage off-take of BPL/AAY food grains from 2001-02 to 2004-05
100
Percentage offtake
90
81.9%
80
73.7%
70
60
64.2%
59.2%
50
40
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
Source: Various issues of Monthly food grain bulletin, Department of food and public distribution, GoI
2004-05
Some Challenges that we face
• Attempting reforms in an era of overall
weakening governance and state commitment to
social sectors
• Has powers (including filing contempt charges
against Chief Secretaries) which are best used
by not being exercised
• Operates in the domain of judicial activism
• Challenge of individual redressal versus
systemic policy engagement
• Has proved to be marginally effective in harder
areas of governance reforms