Right to Food and Work Campaign, West Bengal

Undaunted by the heat and the sun, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees centigrade, members of the Right to Food and Work Campaign-West Bengal reached Kolkata today for a deputation to the Food and Supplies Department. Those participating came from the Himalayan foothills of North Bengal, the islands of Sunderbans , the burning red laterite soil of western West Bengal    , the areas bordering the Bangladesh borders    and the green plains surrounding the Hooghly. Those in the processions ranged from sex workers to midday meal cooks, agricultural workers to van rickshaw pullers, house wives to members of self-help groups, domestic servants to tea garden workers etc.      This huge group of over 5000 people from 16 districts of the State, along with the urban poor of Kolkata, sent a delegation that met the Secretary Food and Supplies Department, Shri Durga Das Goswami and Joint Secretary and Nodal Officer (for the National Food Securit...

The West Bengal Food Security Rules 2016 have been declared on 3 rd January 2017 with the express purpose of ensuring better functioning of the National food Security Act 2013. However there are gross lacunae in these rules, so that much improvement cannot be expected. The problems are given below:- 1.        Non-formation of the State Food Commission Under Section 16 of the NFSA 2013, the State Government is required to form a State Food Commission. The Commission is to monitor and evaluate the implementation of this Act; inquire into violations of entitlements provided; hear appeals against orders of the District Grievance Redressal Officer; give advice to the State Government, and other agencies for the effective implementation of food and nutrition related schemes and Act; and, prepare annual reports which shall be laid before the State Legislature. It is now 4 years since the Act has been passed , but no State Commission has been formed. The ...

It is as an accepted practice, which has been reiterated by tri-partite wage agreements over the past many decades that tea garden management provides a portion of the wages of all permanent workers in the form of subsidised food grains.   These food grains are bought by the management from the market and then provided at 0.40 p per kg to all its permanent workers and their dependents. Before the introduction of NFSA, tea garden owners were buying food grains at Rs.21 per kg and providing the same to the workers at 0.40 p per kg. Generally a worker with an adult wife and 2 dependent children would receive about 32 kgs of food grains per month, amounting to a subsidy of about Rs.660 per month.  After the introduction of NFSA, where through amendment to the PDS Control order, management has also been made the ration dealer in the garden. The management now purchases food grains from the Food Department at Rs.2 per kg and is providing these to its permanent workers at 0.40...

The Right to Food and Work Campaign-West Bengal successfully completed it state convention on 6 th and 7 th April, 2017 at Badu, Barasat, West Bengal with about 300 delegate from 12 districts.   The conference opened with a reading of the basic statement that had stated the issues we would focus on – food, work and democracy. While the primary focus of the convention were the Rights to Food and Work, it was alarming to note that many of the speakers warned the delegates about the disquieting tendency of  governments and ruling political parties to suppress the democratic voice of the civil society. Shri Swapan Ganguly gave the West Bengal context where even the smallest demand for rights had often to face repression from ruling elite and a small group of very powerful political leaders . these leaders were using the State machinery without any qualms to supress any kind of dissent. The aim seemed to be to have a situation where only the ruler’s voice would be heard....

The Convention discussed the present state of affairs in the state and the country with regards to people’s right to food and work and concludes as follows So far, the Campaign has focused mainly on legal entitlements such as those under the PDS, MDMS, maternity benefit, ICDS etc., and especially on the passage and implementation of acts such as the NFSA and MGNREGA. We understand that the Right to Food and Work has to go beyond these to look at people’s control over natural resources, including land; the systems of agriculture that are being used; low wages ; unemployment etc. We are especially concerned by the grabbing of natural resources, especially fertile agricultural land, in the name of so-called development. It is also a fact that in our country thousands of farmers have committed suicide due to huge loss in the agriculture and this is happening only because of reluctance of the government to establish any support system for the farmers as well as for agriculture. In t...

Students of Rainbow School joined the convention Movement's Song Swapan Ganguly, Member of PBKMS Parthpratim Das Gupta, Director of ICDS, Government of  West Bengal addressed the participants Publishing of CD about history of the campaign Kavita Srivastava, The General Secretary of PUCL Cultural moments