Right to Food and Work Campaign, West Bengal

Deputation to The Block Development Officer at Mathurapur-II: Mathurapur-II,22nd November, 2017:- A team of 15-20 members from different organizations had submitted their deputation to the Block Development Officer, Swati Chakrabarty  of Mathurapur-II block, South 24 Pargana regarding the proper implantation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), new Ration card distribution, Maternity Benefits, Public Distribution system (PDS), Mid-Day Meal, Pradhan Mantri Aabas Yojna, Mission Nirmal Bangla, Drinking Water and Old Age Pension. Members of the following organizations occupied the office area to create pressure on the BDO while some went to submit the deputation. The BDO was well aware about the activities of the following organizations. So, she discussed about the problems in details and promised to take active actions. NREGA:  In case of NREGA workers who are not yet paid, she promised to give the delayed wages on Monday (27/11/2017). But the...

Deputation to The Block Development Officer at Jaynagar-II, Nimpith: Nimpith, Jaynagar-II, 21st November, 2017:- A team of 15-20 members from different organizations had submitted their deputation to the Block Development Officer Sumanta Debnath  of Jaynagar-II block, Nimpith, South 24 Pargana regarding the demands on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), new Ration card distribution, Maternity Benefits, Public Distribution system (PDS), Mid-Day Meal, Pradhan Mantri Aabas Yojna,   Mission Nirmal Bangla, Drinking Water and Old Age Stipend. Much to the surprise of the participants, the BDO had commented that he had nothing to do to most these demand as the District Magistrate is not co-operating with them and has ordered to stop all such benefits. He advised them to submit a deputation to the District Manager but when the members of the team protested against it he promised to take some steps as follows: NREGA: the BDO was truly interested to do ...

**Aadhaar Database Breached** Tribune Chandigarh has done an investigation and put out a report detailing how the Aadhaar information of all 1 billion biometricked citizens can be accessed for just Rs 500. By paying an additional Rs 300, the vendor who is selling this data will also install a software on your PC which will allow you to take a print out of ANY Aadhaar card. This is something that observers have been warning for a long time. It only takes one single breach of the UIDAI central server to compromise the data of all citizens of India. In it’s hurry to make Aadhaar mandatory and not ensuring safety, the Government has allowed shady vendors to exploit this data for their own gains. All this while the Government has been maintaining that Aadhaar data is secure but, thanks to the investigation by Tribune, their claims now seem shaky. The Government's aggression for linking all services with Aadhaar is also now questionable. If we link our Bank Accounts and Mobile pho...

                    Press Release      No Aadhar, No Mid-day Meal: The Right to Food and Work Campaign West Bengal condemns the capitulation of the West Bengal State Government to the Aadhar-centric policy of the Central Government. The last shameful addition to the ‘ No Aadhar, No Benefits’ policy of the Central Government is the Midday Meal Scheme(MDMS), where, in many states, Aadhar linkage has been made a precondition for children to get food in schools. Imposing such a condition is completely against a child’s right to food and nutrition and punitive for those who have no Aadhar cards. The Project Director of CMDMP from West Bengal School Education Department had passed an order (Memo no: 522-ES(CMDMP)MDMS-11/2017) on 6th December 2017 asking all schools to collect detailed Aadhar information of each and every student. The logical next step by the Central Government will be to stop food where no Aadhar linking has...

প্রেস বিজ্ঞপ্তি : আধার না থাকলে মিলবে না মিড-ডে মিলঃ  কেন্দ্রের আধার নীতির কাছে রাজ্য সরকারের নির্লজ্জ আত্মসমর্পনের তীব্র বিরোধিতা করছে খাদ্য ও কাজের অধিকার অভিযান পশ্চিমবঙ্গ। কেন্দ্রের ‘ আধার নেই, পরিষেবাও নেই’ এই নীতির অন্যতম নক্কারজনক সংযোজন ছিল মিড ডে মিল প্রকল্প যেখানে আধার লিঙ্কিং-কে এই প্রকল্পের আওতায় শিশুদের খাবার পাবার পূর্বশর্ত ধার্য করা হয়েছে। এই ধরনের  শর্ত আরোপ সবসময়ই শিশুদের নুন্যতম খাদ্য ও পুষ্টির অধিকারের বিপক্ষে এবং আধার কার্ড নেই এরকম বাচ্চাদের কাছে শাস্তিস্বরূপ।  পশ্চিমবঙ্গ স্কুলশিক্ষা দপ্তরের প্রোজেক্ট ডিরেক্টর গত ৬/১২/২০১৭-এ (মেমো নং- 522-ES(CMDMP)/MDMS-11/2017) একটি বিজ্ঞপ্তিতে সমস্ত সংশ্লিষ্ট দপ্তরকে জানাচ্ছেন ৩১ডিসেম্বরের মধ্যে আধার সম্বন্ধিত সমস্ত তথ্য জোগাড় করে তা ঊর্ধ্বতন কর্তৃপক্ষকে পাঠাতেই হবে। কাজেই এটা বোঝা খুব শক্ত নয় যে কেন্দ্রীয় সরকারের পরবর্তী পদক্ষেপ হবে অন্যান্য রাজ্যের মত এরাজ্যেও আধার লিঙ্কেজ না থাকলে খাবার দেওয়া বন্ধ করা। মহামান্য সুপ্রিমকোর্ট আধার সংক্রান্ত সর্বশেষ রায়ে মোবাইল, ব্যাঙ্ক, মিউচুয়ালফাণ্ড ইত্যাদির সাথে আধারলিঙ্কিং-...