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The awareness that the right to food is one of the most critical
rights to be claimed in a post-colonial democracy such as India is one of
the gains of the rights movement. Food riots particularly in the recent wake
of globalisation, structural reforms, rising inflation and food prices,
occurred in many parts of the globe, including Asia. Food riots or
demonstrations have taken place in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Thailand,
India, Egypt, Haiti and several other countries in the last five years. The
right to food has close links with entitlement patterns in society and their
gendered nature, the disabling effects of persistent hunger, presence or
absence of employment guarantee scheme, integrated child development
services, mid-day meal schemes for children, public distribution system,
land rights, starvation deaths, coercive displacement, forest rights, and
social exclusion. In India, with all these factors present, the right to food has
become in recent times one of the most talked about rights. It is an issue
in which court, researchers, journalists, field surveyors, campaigners,
jurists, civil rights activists, and the administration – all have got
involved. Coalitions have emerged around the demand of the right to food.
The National Human Rights Commission has also been aware of the significance
of this right, which is now seen as the derivative of the constitutionally
guaranteed right to life (Article 21 of the Indian Constitution). Social
audits (mainly in the form of public hearing) are new held over the issue,
which tell us as to how far this right is a reality in India. Yet, hunger persists. There are starvation
deaths, recurrent suicides of farmers, widespread joblessness, and roving
bands of destitute labourers, whose situation is aggravated with disasters
like regular floods and droughts. Clearly fruits of development do not reach
all. But what is more significant is the fact that economic development at
certain places at times creates new pockets of poverty and hunger, newer
disabilities, and new vulnerabilities. If some people escape the trap of
below poverty level existence, some enter the trap, which is, going down
below the poverty level. It can be seen further that the Union budget
2008-09 has allocated only Rs. 5 crore for the social security protection to
the unorganized and informal sector workers who number around 423 million
today. Click
here for the details of the first consultation meeting The first consultation meeting on Right to Food took place on 26.08.2008 at the CRG Seminar Room. Food Right activists, theoreticians, field workers, school teachers associated with the ICDS and mid day meal programmes, the CRG staff members attended the meeting presided over by Dr. Ranabir Samaddar. This research initiative is taking place in collaboration with The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions. For further details of the first consultation meeting, please contact geetisha@mcrg.ac.in Right to Food: Update CRG’s research on the Right to Food started in the second half of 2008. The research was conceptualized primarily keeping in mind a few concerns: the research would focus on the rights perspective of the food security paradigm, considering the fact that basic research on availability of food is already being carried out by several researchers all over India. CRG’s research began with accepting the fact that food scarcity exists in this country, and exists to the point of causing starvation death in pockets. Taking a step further from present and ongoing body of research and reporting, the project therefore seeks to grasp the nature of right to food – how the agenda food entitlement shapes on the basis of contention and negotiation of the right between the state, which has to deliver the food, and the subject; who assumes different collective and individual identities at different levels and points of time. The research is being conducted on five themes: (a) there would be an inquiry looking into the state of the right to food in the tea plantations in Jalpaiguri, North Bengal; (b) a similar inquiry will take stock of the situation in South Bengal, specifically Paschim Midnapore, where starvation and hunger deaths have been repeatedly reported; (c) there will be one paper on the legal development of the Right to Food as a concrete right, (d) the fourth aspect is related to a study of the popular movement in West Bengal in 2007-08 against the unavailability of food in the Public Distribution System which influenced considerably the results of the Panchayat elections that took place soon after the agitation had stopped; and (e) finally, a paper summarizing the current research and body of literature on Right to Food. The first paper has already been published in CRG’s research paper series “Policies and Practices” issue no. 24 under the title “Whither Right to Food: Rights Institutions and Hungry Labour in the Tea Plantations of North Bengal”. The second paper is now being prepared for publication. Work is on with the remaining papers. A research workshop will be held in August 2009 on the basis of these five studies. 
Why Right to Education, Right to Health and Right to Food Go Together: A Report by Geetisha Dasgupta The seventh annual
meeting of Pratichi (India) Trust was held on 7th and 8th
August, 2008 at the Gitanjali Auditorium premises in Bolpur. The meeting was
co-organised by Sarva Shiksha Mission, Birbhum and Birbhum District Primary
Education Council. It was attended by several primary, pre primary school
teachers, head masters, guardians of children going to such schools, people
involved in the administration of primary education in West Bengal, research
personnel, academicians and journalists. The meeting was also attended by
the Finance Minister of West Bengal, Asim Dasgupta, Primary Education
Minister, Partha De and the noted Economist, Amartya Sen. The central theme
was public participation in the augmentation of quality of primary education
in the State. The thematic
outline of this meeting was a watershed. It was for the first time perhaps,
that, there was so much dialogue on qualitative aspect of a service the
State had promised to provide, a service, on whose quality, the future of
millions is directly dependent. Primary education is necessarily that
stepping stone on which every other aspect draws heavily. Therefore the
meeting emphasized, the lookout should not only be universal enrollment, but
also the work that follows it. What kind of education is given, whether the
children are able to get smooth promotion from one class to another within
the minimum requisite time and whether they get to eat a full meal before
they sit down to learn, were the concerns that received the highlight
repeatedly. It was inspiring to
note the enthusiasm on part of the teachers and guardians alike, in the
betterment of primary education scenario in their respective areas of work.
The promise on their part was readily palpable. The two day
programme began with some introductory comments inviting the teachers and
the guardians to share their experiences in being directly involved with the
primary education system. The first session was convened by Professor Achin
Chakrabarty of Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata and Smt. Subhra
Chattopadhyay of Bikramshila. The feeling gathered initially was that there
was a general disinterest in the upgrading of primary and pre primary
education in some of the districts. There were complaints about loopholes in
the resource distribution mechanisms. Several activities, it was complained,
are found to happen only on paper. There is, it was said, a lack of
nutrition of the child students still prevailing, despite the measures taken
over a period of time. The speakers pointed out several reasons. Some even
complained the Mata Shikshak Committee system to be a failure altogether,
while others discussed the relative merits of this body. A two pronged
system was found imperative in raising the standard, one arm being the
teachers, the other being the people at home, keeping an interest in and
vigil over the children, once they returned from school. It was repeatedly
emphasized that, the school should be able to ensure a free and fearless
environment. It would be best if the child finds that people from her home
and locality keep coming to the school. The alienation between the guardians
and the teachers should be removed as soon as possible and reliability of
the guardians to be garnered. Mid day meal was complained to be an added
pressure for teachers who are already overburdened with the work of
teaching. There is, in any case, a huge gap between the number of teachers
required and the number present. Moreover, there are different kinds of
learners among the students, who demand variable degrees of attention from
the teacher. Aftabuddin Hazari, an education worker pointed out that the
Sarva Shiksha Kendra system had shown much rapid development than the
primary schools. SSK has directly
shown the relation between nutrition and education, said Prof. Sen, rounding
up the arguments of the first few speakers. It has received great support
from almost all quarters. In ensuring the full fledged participation, he
said, not only the huge number of opinions, but also the variety thereof
must be brought into fair count. Greater official legitimacy was demanded
for the MTC. The mother should be made more conscious with regard to her
child’s education. This should in turn, be effective in bringing down the
drop out rates. More personal involvement was sought from the teachers.
China Paul, a
primary school teacher from Naxalbari pointed out that she had been able to
reduce the absence and drop out phenomena by directly interacting with the
mothers and circulating the word of mouth deputing other children in order
to induct the absentees and drop outs back to school. On the other hand, Ila
Paira, a teacher from Paschim Medinipur, who teaches at a school meant for
Adivasis, said, there was no arrangement whatsoever, for handicapped
children. Moreover, she argued, external assessment method was always
antithetical to the interest of primary education as children of that
nascent age must be given familiar grounds to prove themselves. Child
psychology must therefore be taught at the training and orientation
exercises for primary teachers. No children can be categorized as advanced
or backward, as, children come to school as white paper, and it is the
failure of the teacher that differences crop up between the understanding
and performances of two children, after they begin to learn. Ila also
pointed out that, in most cases, training has been a futile process and many
a teacher does not understand how to go about mathematics or science
teaching. The method of teaching is as important as the content of teaching
or the person to be taught. Rekha Banerjee,
another teacher remarked, often mothers do not want their children to be
confined to school premises when they could earn a hand if they were sent to
work. This situation had to be mitigated by constant dialogue with the
mothers, especially in situations where the male guardian was addicted to
drinking and alcoholic. In such cases, where the children are the first
generation learners from one particular family, voluntary organizations or
volunteers were required to drive the children to school. The teacher cannot
be expected to do all. Nihar Bibi, a guardian from Shujpur, commented that
the daily allowance of two and a half rupees per child for mid day meal was
completely insufficient and as long as was not increased, there could not be
expected any rise in the nutritional meter of the children.
Asim Dasgupta, in
his presentation on the second day of the programme, said that there has
been a rate of 98.5% net enrollment at the age of 5+, while the gross
enrollment rate is of 116%. He claimed that: 1) Of the net 1.5% of out of
school children, many go to schools that are not affiliated; 2) There has
been a marked decrease in the rate of drop out also, over the years. There
are 88,000 Anganwadi Centers, which take care of the pre primary education
in the State. Almost all schools have an ICDS centre attached to itself. The
methods followed in teaching at these centers are often very innovative. For
example, in one such center, a child is asked to enumerate whatever it saw
while on way to school as “Ajker
Khabar” (Today’s News). This is nothing but an attempt to make the
child eloquent in the mother tongue. The ICDS would propel the child to the
primary school but is not itself a place to hammer the child with alphabets
or numbers. The Finance Minister blatantly pointed out, immediately the long
syllabi at primary level should be done away with. But the syllabi should be
qualitatively good. About the Government’s decision to revive English
teaching at the primary level, he said, the influence of the environment is
too profound on the children now. And that environment rotates on the axis
of English, contrary to the reality 30 years ago, when English was dropped
from primary school curriculum. The Chairman of
Bardhaman District Primary Education Council pointed out that a primary
condition behind mass involvement was the emotional quotient. This emotional
propeller has been there throughout the past. Of late, there has been a
lowering in the sense of belonging. This has to be resuscitated. In case of
education, there is now total dependence on the teachers. The teachers must
also take adequate initiative to reciprocate this sense of dependence in
order to make the parents or guardians, equal sharers of the responsibility.
Earlier, the parents and teachers used to be familiar to each other as they
principally hailed from the same locality, same village or at least the same
block. In today’s context, the teachers, coming from distant places,
totally alien to the localities where they teach, have less credibility. The
guardians cannot always trust the teachers and let their children off. In
case of mid day meal, Self Help Groups must be involved right away. The Chairman of
Howrah District Primary Education Council said, the age has not yet arrived,
when the teachers would only teach. Involving the teachers in any other
work, whatever it is, mars the teaching initiative on their part. The
Service Record updating must be streamlined, so that the teachers are not
unnecessarily bothered or hassled. There should be a Service Record
Guarantee system for this. Another issue that came up for discussion was
that of transfer. In his final
comments, Professor Sen remarked, it was curious enough to note that we, as
a people are very tolerant of the low level of primary education, or rate of
education as such in this country. The gaps do not figure in political or
social dialogues. The lack of nutrition, health facilities, education, and
social consciousness hurts the wheel of development the most. One cannot
disintegrate these social goods. The entire nation is stuck in this lack and
poverty stems from this. General education, it has often been found, to
raise the level of health, nutrition, as it guarantees a rise in level of
consciousness through better communication abilities. Education enables at
least to read the newspaper, or any bit of writing that is available, which
in turn ensures the minimum knowledge about health requisites. He discussed
a study by Harvard scholars, wherein it was found that, as school education
was made available to more and more children, their overall health condition
was raised, thus establishing a direct relationship between the fundamentals
of education and health. The children were not additionally trained in
hygiene, but the sheer ability to communicate better made them understand
the necessity of healthy living. It has been proved time and again, that
child health has a direct bearing over education. The mid day meal scheme is
one step towards that. The Rights to Food, Education, Health, therefore,
should be compositely treated as essentials. We cannot afford to treat them
separately, as one does not stand without the other.
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