Record Foodgrain Exports Amid hunger in India – Right to Food Campaign

Contents

• 1
• 2 What is the News?
• 3 The Right to Food Campaign highlighted the following issues:
• 4 About Right to Food Campaign:

What is the News?

The Right to Food Campaign has criticized the record export of foodgrains from India in 2020-21. It is the time when the country’s people are struggling with hunger amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The Right to Food Campaign highlighted the following issues:

 Record Foodgrain Exports:

• The Government of India has exported over 13 million tonnes of non-basmati rice and more than two million tonnes of wheat in 2020-21.
• The Government could have used the exported grain to provide to 25 crore people with rations for a year.

Coverage of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana Scheme:

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana provides additional free grain for only two months. It also covers only those who are already included under the National Food Security Act.
• The food security crisis faced by the informal sector workers, especially those who do not have ration cards, has been completely ignored.
• Hence, the Government should immediately universalise the Public Distribution System(PDS). It should also extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana scheme for a period of at least six months.

About Right to Food Campaign:

• Right to Food campaign is an informal network of individuals and organizations. It has its commitments to the realisation of the right to food in India.
• The launching of the campaign happened in 2001 with a writ petition filed in Supreme Court in 2001 by People’s Union for Civil Liberties.
  • The petition demanded that the country’s surplus food stocks should be used without delay to protect people from hunger and starvation.

Source: The Hindu