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
(%ofchildrenunder3yearswhohavenot
receivedthestatedvaccine)
BCG
DTP3
MCV
Pol3

Child undernutrition
(%ofchildrenwiththestatedcondition)
Underweight
Stunting
Wasting
Infant and child mortality
(per1,000livebirths)
Infantmortalityrate

56

62

59

80

12

Under-fivemortalityrate

77

85

76

101

14

Indias 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

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

% of Work Force dependent on

Agriculture

Poverty
Percentage below poverty line
1973

56

1987

39

1994

35

1999

26?

2004

28

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.

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? (contd.)
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 (contd.)

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

Pe rce ntage offtak e

100
90

81.9%

80

73.7%

70
60

59.2%

64.2%

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