With the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown leading to lakhs of poor and working people losing jobs and livelihoods, the Right to Food campaign has written to Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan appealing for a universalisation of the Public Distribution System for the next six months to avoid widespread hunger and starvation.
The activists said the measures announced in the Centre’s relief package were “hugely inadequate”, as free foodgrains are being provided only to those who already have ration cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), thus excluding a large number of people, including migrant communities, homeless and elderly, nomadic tribes and other vulnerable communities. The free ration announced on March 26 has also not reached beneficiaries in most States and starvation deaths have been reported in Bihar, Hyderabad, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, said the letter.
The activists demanded that the PDS be expanded to cover every individual, irrespective of whether they have a ration card, providing 10 kg grain, 1.5 kg pulses and 800 gm cooking oil per month per person for at least six months.
The letter noted that the FCI has 77 million tonnes of foodgrain stocks in its godowns, thrice the buffer stock norms. Another 35-40 million tonnes are expected to be added once the winter harvest is procured. “Only 2.5 million tonnes have been released after the lockdown to meet the requirements of the relief measures. It is therefore imminently possible and also urgently required to universalise the PDS,” said the letter.
While the NFSA covers 67% of the population, the government data shows that almost 82% earn less than the recommended minimum wage of ₹18,000 per month, said the activists, adding that universal schemes also tend to have lower leakages and minimal exclusions. Ration shops can put marks with indelible ink on people’s hands to prevent them from taking ration more than once a month, they said.
Apart from dry rations, cooked food and community kitchens in urban areas are needed to address the needs of migrants, unorganised sector workers and the homeless and destitute populations, they said.
