Konchowki: Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to give the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 to the World Food Programme (WFP) raises the important issue of world hunger and scarcity of food at this juncture of pandemic.

The award was announced a week before of the World Food Day that falls on October 16 this year. The day marks the founding day of the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in 1945.

A glance at the Global Hunger Index 2020 hits you hard when you notice that India ranks 94th among 107 countries listed. It has scored 27.2, which is considered serious.”

The Global Hunger Index, initiatives of international humanitarian agencies, is a peer-reviewed annual report, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global and local level.

The United Nation Sustainable Development Goal sets a target of Zero Hunger by 2030. One suspects with the current pace of lopsided development, if this target is achievable.

Looking at the starvation deaths being reported regularly, one fears that India and many other third world countries might not reach the “Zero Hunger” target.

India is the lowest ranked among the South Asian countries in in the index and way behind the other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations is a point of concern.

Millions of the Indians both in urban and rural India are used to hunger and hence undernourished and suffer malnutrition.

Hunger is one of the top causes of death and disability in India. It is clear that food security remains a serious challenge.

“India’s Targeted Public Distribution System represents the largest social protection program in the world, reaching 800 million people with subsidized cereals that can be purchased from more than 500,000 fair price shops across the country.”
The recently passed farm bills will adversely affect this rationing system and may drive its beneficiaries to starvation death.

India is one of the world’s largest food producers. However, the country is also home to the largest population of hungry people and one-third of the world’s malnourished children.

The course of the Covid-19 pandemic has further worsened the situation.

The virus has disrupted global and local food systems, severely affecting India’s poor and hungry worse than ever.
The pandemic amplified the vulnerabilities of the national food system.

As those in power will continue to use Covid 19 as a tool and excuse to further deprive the already deprived, there is an urgent need to use the Covid 19 crisis to highlight the crisis of our democracy

There is certainly a fear that many Indians would die of starvation than Covid-19 itself.

The Right to Food and Work Network West Bengal has been striving to advocate and secure the fundamental rights of life- food and work for the most vulnerable in our society.

In the initial months of the lockdown (April-May), we experienced thousands of migrant workers desperate to return to their ‘homes’ in West Bengal.

We worked closely in coordinating and providing support to all without questioning for a moment the reasons as there was panic everywhere.

Four months down the line the same laborers are restless to get back to work while many have already set-off for the simple reason there is scarcity of food and work available locally.

Our network decided to call for an observance of an Action Week September 8-15 in West Bengal to manifest the urgency of the distress of the people.

Spontaneous and creative protests emerged from different parts of the state with a clear demand for increase of food grains and work and wages.

Throughout the week, along with the partner organisation demonstrations here held maintaining physical distancing and raising sociopolitical questions.

Posters were stuck and leaflets distributed, as ‘voices’ could not be raised too much through masks and in small numbers.

Walls were painted, silent rallies went through villages and small meetings held to discuss and organise for future a course of action.

Deputations were submitted to concerned government authorities and social media campaigns run.

On the last day, a virtual discussion was organised to bring together these voices of deprivation and struggle from different quarters of the state and field of work.

We have been demanding universalization of Public Distribution System as many deserving families are left out intentionally and otherwise

Increase in the quality and quantity of food grains to 10 kilo per head and introduction of edible oil and dal in subsidized rates.

At present, the annual guarantee of work in NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, later renamed as the “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act”, MGNREGA) is only 100 days per household. This is grossly inadequate, especially now when other employment opportunities have become so limited.

The demand is to increase to at least by 200 days per every eligible person, so that all could work in NREGA to meet the basic needs.

While calculating the expenditure on basic necessities like nutritious food, health, education, the Seventh Pay Commission fixed a monthly minimum wage of 18,000 rupees per worker.

Hence, the daily NREGA wages should also be at least 600 rupees per worker per day.

India’s food activists hope and pray that the government used the World Food Day to set things right to save its millions from starvation deaths.

(Father Irudhaya Jothi, a member of the Calcutta Jesuit province, is a leading food activist in West Bengal.)