Activists ask PM to dump Food Bill
A large group of civil society representatives under the banner of Steering group of the Right to Food Campaign, which include activists like NAC member Aruna Roy, former NAC member Jean Dreze and civil rights activist Binayak Sen, has came down heavily against the proposed National Food Security Bill approved by an Empowered Group of Ministers last month and demanded universalisation of food grain entitlements under the proposed law.
The Bill interprets food security only as distribution of cereals and cooked meals and is completely silent on pulses, millets and oil…. We reject this farce of a Bill and demand that the government sincerely acts towards alleviating hunger and malnutrition in the country, the Steering group of the Right to Food Campaign wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
We believe that such a Bill in fact does more damage than good and must be rejected, it added, pointing out their objections to the Bill and sought changes to provide for universalisation of food grain entitlements.
The letter holds significance in wake of the fact that it claims to have the support of NAC member Aruna Roy and former NAC member Jean Dreze, both of whom were part of the deliberations of Sonia Gandhi-led NAC that recommended the government about salient features of the proposed law.
The activists have also objected to provisions for introducing scheme of cash transfers in lieu of entitlements, and leveraging Aadhaar (UID) for unique identification for reaching out to the targeted beneficiaries under the proposed Bill.
The group also criticised the government for junking the grievance redressal mechanism suggested by the NAC and demanded the government to provide for universalisation of PDS entitlements under the proposed law.