Activists and food experts want the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council to address the larger issue of hunger in the country than providing subsidised ration to the poor while drafting the proposed National Food Security Act.
Activists like Jean Dreze, M.S. Swaminathan, Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy (all members of the NAC), Vandana Shiva, Devinder Sharma and many others believe the law, if enacted properly, could mark the beginning of a new chapter in the history of India and tackle the appalling hunger in the country.
In fact, some of them also want the below poverty line (BPL) to be referred to as the hunger line.
The activists argue that India has emerged as the capital of hunger, scoring worse than Sub-Saharan Africa in the Global Hunger Index with one million children dying of malnutrition every year.
“The poor and hungry have lived in a dark abyss for over 60 years now, waiting endlessly for their daily morsel of grain. India’s new draft Food Security Bill, with its underlying promise of food-for-all, provides a ray of hope for the hungry millions,” said Devinder Sharma.
At present, the government provides 35 kg of food grains, including wheat and rice, to 6.5 crore BPL families. But the number of hungry and malnourished, including women and children is much more, said the activists. It is in this context that the proposed Food Security Act should not be seen as a solution to the food crisis, which appears to be offering the disease as the cure, said the activists.
Taking their argument further, the activists said that an empty stomach is linked to social upheavals and the repercussions could be damaging to society at large.
“The crisis of hunger and malnutrition in India is a reality and should not be ignored. It is the face of the underweight children dying of starvation and the farmer who committed suicide, unable to feed himself and his family with dignity,” said Vandana Shiva.
“We can’t call ourselves a food secure country and food security is a matter of national security,” she added.