People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Vol. XXXVI
No. 31 July 05, 2012 |
Massive Response to Left Parties
Dharna for Food
Security
THE five day sit-in
organised by the four Left parties – Communist Party of India
(Marxist), Communist Party of India, All India Forward Bloc
and Revolutionary Socialist
Party began in New Delhi on July 30 against price
rise and to demand the right to food through a universal
public distribution system. As we go to press, the third day
of the sit-in saw the participation of thousands
of people from
On the first day of
the sit-in on July 30, large number of people from Haryana and
The leaders said
the government should give people access to cheap foodgrain.
At a time when 8.2 crore tonnes of foodgrain is stored, it is
grave injustice to deny people access to food, they said and added that the food
security system should be based on universal public
distribution system, instead of targeted population. The
entire concept of above and below poverty line population
needs to be scrapped, they demanded.
The Left parties’
leaders also demanded a proper food security system keeping in
mind the high levels of malnutrition in the country. They also
demanded a halt to export of foodgrain at subsidised rates.
They said the
government should supply 35 kg of foodgrain at a maximum rate
of Rs 2 a kg per family each month, distribute over 8 crore
foodgrain stocks by increasing allocations immediately and
scrap the Planning Commission’s “highly dubious” poverty
estimates and ensure that these are not used as basis for
welfare allocations.
Among others
present at the dharna were Communist Party of India leader A B
Bardhan and eminent economist and food expert Utsa Patnaik.
Utsa Patnaik addressed the gathering, detailing how the
policies of the government are affecting agriculture and
creating food insecurity in our country.
SECOND DAY
The second day of
the dharna on July 31 demanding immediate legislation on food
security again witnessed the participation of thousands of
people from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana. The people
expressed their anger against the government and their strong
resolve and determination by sitting in dharna, braving the
incessant rain throughout the day.
The central leaders
of the Left parties who spoke in the dharna highlighted the
apathy of the government towards the poor. They criticised the
UPA government that was unwilling to spend even a meagre One
per cent of the GDP for ensuring food security to the people
and stated that this shows its real concern for aam aadmi. The
government, instead of supplying foodgrains to the hungry and
malnourished people of our country, is keen on exporting
foodgrains where it is used to feed cattle.
They also criticised
the government for its failure to provide ration cards to all
the needy and its intent on dismantling the entire public
distribution system (PDS). More than 50 per cent of our
agricultural labourers, 61 per cent of the dalits and 55 per
cent of the adivasis do not have either the BPL or the
Antyodaya cards. This in itself means that the majority of the
poor in our society are denied access even to that nominal PDS
that exists in our country. Instead of strengthening the PDS,
the government is bent upon wiping out even the existing
structure. This exposes the true character of the Congress
party and the UPA government. They called upon the people to
join hands and further intensify the struggle for 35 kgs of
foodgrains at not more than Rs 2 per family.
Brinda Karat, Polit
Bureau member of the CPI(M), Amarjeet Kaur, national secretary
of the CPI, Premachandran, former minister of Kerala and
leader of the RSP, Narahari Mahato, member of parliament, AIFB
addressed the protesters along with the state leaders of the
four Left parties. The central leadership of the four Left
parties – CPI(M), CPI, AIFB and RSP – were joined by many
prominent personalities working in the field of food security.
Eminent economist Jean Dreeze, Civil rights activist Binayak
Sen and other Right to Food activists extended their support
to the protest and addressed the people.
THIRD
DAY
Thousands of people from
Addressing the gathering the leaders said, the
government, instead of supporting the peasants by announcing
remunerative support prices, is leaving them to the vagaries
of market. Moreover, it is encouraging the cultivation of
commercial crops for export, rather than cultivation of food
grains. As a result, the production of food grains in the
country has declined and this together with the speculative
activities like forward trading is contributing to the rise in
the prices of food grains and other essential commodities.
This is leading to a situation where even the producers of
food grains too are unable to buy them from the market. They
demanded the government to immediately address the concerns
for storage of food grains. Instead of letting the food grains
to rot, the government should take steps to distribute them
through the PDS by strengthening it.
S Ramachandran Pillai, Polit Bureau member of the
CPI(M), D Raja, national secretary of CPI and member of
parliament, Basudeb Acharia, member of parliament and leader
of the CPI(M) in Lok Sabha, Subhashini Ali, Central Committee
member, CPI(M), Ashok Ghosh of RSP, Charanjeet Singh of AIFB
addressed the protesters along with the state leaders of the
four Left parties. Leaders of various mass organisations –
AIDWA, AISF, DYFI and SFI too addressed the dharna. Jan Natya
Manch performed a play highlighting the impact of price rise
on the common people.