After 50 days of the “demonetisation” diktat aptly described as a “despotic action”, here is a special year-end update

1. Announcements                                                                                               

RTF Campaign Statement: The Right to Food Campaign has issued a statement to denounce “demonetisation” as a reckless attempt by the government to undermine the right to food and life (English | Hindi). The statement condemns the more than 100 demonetisation-related deaths and inevitable economic recession that has hit millions of vulnerable families.

The campaign statement demands compensation for bereaved families, reversal of all social spending budget cuts and full disclosure on how, when, why and by whom the decision was made to demonetize. That apart, the government must support these priority commitments by way of partial compensation for the intolerable hardships:

• Social Security Pensions: Increase the centre’s contribution from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 per month
• Maternity Entitlements: Provide Rs 6,000 per child as guaranteed in the NFSA
• MDM and ICDS: Provide central assistance for the inclusion of milk, eggs and fruits in school mid- day meals and anganwadis
• NREGA: Increase the annual NREGA budget to Rs 60,000 crores

On-the-ground surveys: To understand the impact of demonetisation a number of on-the-ground surveys have been conducted. In Jharkhand, a month after demonetisation the local economy of Ranchi has been decimated. In Rajasthan,  harrowing stories of distress have been recorded from casual labourers in the chowktis of Jaipur.

Media Archive: There have been a flood of articles in the media to highlight on the impact of demonetisation on farmers, agricultural labourers, migrant workers, daily wagers, fisherfolk, street vendors, artisans, pensioners, destitute persons, young children and many others - on the frontlines. A selection of these is updated daily and specially curated here.

Jan Sunwai: In Rajasthan, on 26th December a public hearing on demonetisation was organised in Beawar at the birthplace of the RTI movement under the iconic slogan, "hamara paisa, hamara hisab" with six hundred participants.

State Conventions: After the plan of action (English | Hindi) finalised at the 6th National convention in Ranchi, different states are also organising their respective conventions. Tentatively, Odisha in January; Jharkhand in February; Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh in March and many more. Uttar Pradesh had already organised its convention in Lucknow in November.

2. Events                                                                                               

Date	Theme	Venue	Location	Organisors	Reports/ Contacts
2017
post-March	Rajasthan Right to Food Convention	t.b.c.	Jaipur	Rajasthan Right to Food Campaign	Kavita Srivastava and Ashok Khandelwal
March	Madhya Pradesh Right to Food Convention	t.b.c	Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh Right to Food Campaign	Sachin Jain and Madhuri Krishnaswamy
March	West Bengal Right to Food Convention	t.b.c	Kolkata	West Bengal Right to Food Campaign	Anuradha Talwar
March	Bihar Right to Food Convention	t.b.c	Patna	Bihar Right to Food Campaign	Rupesh
February	Jharkhand Right to Food Convention	t.b.c	Ranchi	Jharkhand Right to Food Campaign	Balram and Ashrafi Prasad
2nd to 9th February	NREGA Action Week	t.b.c	across villages, blocks and states of India	NREGA Sangarsh Morcha	Nirmala and Aysha Khan
January	Odisha Right to Food Convention	t.b.c	Bhubhaneshwar	Odisha Right to Food Campaign	Bidyut Mohanty and Rajkishore Mishra
2016
26 December	Demonetisation Public Hearing	Beawar	Rajasthan	Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan	Twitter
22 November	Postcard campaign and National Action Day on Maternity Entitlements	Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and other state capitals	Across States	State Right to Food Campaigns	Photos |  Media | Press Release | Invite
11-12 November	Uttar Pradesh Right to Food Convention	Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh	Uttar Pradesh Right to Food Campaign	Invite
23-25th September	6th National Convention of the Right to Food Campaign	Ranchi	Jharkhand	Right to Food Campaign	Plan of Action [English | Hindi]
7 August	Maharashtra Right to Food Convention	Mumbai	Maharashtra	Anna Adhikar Abhiyan