New Delhi, April 17 (Inditop.com) Activists of the Right to Food campaign who have been protesting at Jantar Mantar in the capital for the past two days, Saturday submitted a memorandum to the Planning Commission seeking changes in the food security bill.
One of the main demands that the group has made is to introduce universal entitlement of the public distribution system.
Annie Raja of the National Federation for Indian Women said: “We are distressed by the proposed draft on the National Food Security Bill which proposes an entitlement of 25 kg of food grain at Rs.3 per kg to each below-poverty-line (BPL) household. This is lower than the current entitlement of 35 kg per household as mandated by the Supreme Court.”
“Nothing short of a universal entitlement to the public distribution system would suffice to change the existing situation,” she added.
The group also demanded an immediate ban on export of food items until the end of malnutrition in the country.
The group which went to meet Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia Saturday could not do so and instead met two other members of the commission – Syeda Hameed and Abhijit Sen. They submitted their memorandum to them.
“The government must take special measures in all emergencies like natural disasters and acute hunger. Collectors should visit the place where the cases are reported. The protocol prepared by Supreme Court commissioners for assuring rehabilitation of such families should be adopted by the government,” the memorandum said.
