Towards the Realisation of the Human Right to Food in India
Edited by Sabine Pabst Photographs by Mohan Dhamotharan Published by FIAN International Printed on recycled paper April 2008 Produced with financial assistance of Misereor, Germany.
Hunger in a World of Plenty Adequate food for everybody is not a matter for charity but a fundamental right. According to the International Bill of Human Rights, everybody has the right to an adequate standard of living. This includes the right to be free from hunger. The right to adequate food and to feed oneself are part of international law. In today s world, there is enough food for all or could be produced. However, more than 850 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition and this number is growing. Less than 10% of the hungry are victims of acute disasters like war, droughts or floods. More than 90% of the affected populations suffer from permanent undernutrition, most of them in rural areas where food is produced. These victims need empowerment to claim their right to food. Hunger is man made, not an issue of general lack of food. It is closely linked to vested interests monopolizing the access to resources, or a result of lacking or malfunctioning social transfer programmes and the marginalisation of vulnerable groups. Much of hunger and malnutrition is the result of states failing to meet their obligations under the right to food: Respect people s current access to food and resources Protecting people against landlords and employers who prac- tice forced evictions, slavery-like working conditions, denial of minimum wages. Distributing income and resources through minimum income programs, safety nets and agrarian reform. The state shall promote with special care ( ) the economic interest of the weaker sections of the people, in particular the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and protect them from social injustice ( ) (Art. 44, Indian Constitution, Directive Principles) More than 200 million Indians face starvation. India has the largest number of undernourished people in the world and the highest levels of child malnutrition, higher than most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. India is a state party to the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Therefore it is obliged to respect, to protect and to fulfil the right to food. The Supreme Court of India has ruled that the right to life (Art. 21 in the Indian Constitution) includes the right to food. Hunger still persists due to non implementation of laws and welfare schemes, unjust distribution of resources and income, and oppression of Adivasis, India s tribal peoples, Dalits ( untouchables ), and other vulnerable groups.
The problem is not a lack of food but a lack of political will (FAO 2003) In the year 2000, the 189 states of the UN General Assembly, including India, adopted the UN millennium Declaration. These states committed themselves to achieving the Millenium Develoment Goals, a joint effort to eradicate poverty worldwide by 2015. However, the first reviews of this programme reveal that the absolute number of hungry people in India and throughout the world has, in fact, increased. The next decade will be crucial. Useful instruments to reach the MDGs in India are available. In 2004, the FAO member states agreed on Guidelines to Support the Realisation of the Right to Adequate Food. They can be used to: Systematically identify hungry populations and the violations they suffer Design programs (e.g. agrarian reform) starting with the most marginalised groups Review national legislation to ensure effective realisation of the right to food Establish access to justice for victims, including effective recourse procedures. States should respect and protect the rights of individuals with respect to resources such as land, water, forests, fisheries and livestock without any discrimination. (FAO Guidelines to Support the Realisation of the Right to Adequate Food, 2004) Since independence, the need for land reform in India is seen as a key to fulfil the constitutional obligation of guaranteeing adequate means of livelihood. However, as several studies observed, the Land Ceiling Act has never been effectively enforced. Still the structure of India agriculture is characterized by a large degree of inequality in the distribution of land. The absolute landless and near landless (land holdings below 0.5. acre) make up nearly half of the India population. Due to the domination of neoliberal globalisation and free market ideology the idea of tenancy and land liberalisation has come up. Loosening tenancy protection and supporting big landholdings is contrary to the idea of agrarian reform and would lead to further marginalisation of the small farmers. The state shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment. (Indian Constitution Directive Principles, Art. 39b)
Adivasis struggle for access to land On July 31st 2003, Adivasi huts and more than a thousand acres of their crops were destroyed by the Maharashtra State Farming Corporation with support from the police in Rahata Taluka, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. 200 families, including women (three of them had just given birth) and children were rendered homeless in the pouring rain without any prior notice of demolition. The eviction took place even though the high court had endorsed the right of the Adivasis over the said land they had cultivated for more than 20 years. They once again claimed the land in 2006 and again in 2007, but the powerful landlords destroyed huts and crops in both the years. However, the struggle to access to land continues.
Food production has risen continuously in India, and all over the world. Intensive production has led to increased harvests. People with money have access to food while the poor sections of the society face hunger. India s economy has been growing fast during the last decade. India is a food exporting country and has millions of tons of grain in storage. Today enough resources are available for India to implement the various programmes aimed at providing support to overcome hunger and malnutrition. However, the government fails to implement these schemes effectively. Corruption and mismanagement are rampant in many social programmes making it difficult for the people to realize their right to food. The widespread apathy of states authorities fails to prevent starvation deaths inthe country.
Mass starvation of Yanadula Adivasis Around 230 people of the Yanadula community Kaikalur Mandal, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh face hunger and starvation due to lack of employment opportunities and access to social programmes. The Yanadula Adivasis face discrimination from all sections. They do not find adequate work and have to depend on scavenging, drainage cleaning and rag-collecting. Inadequate wages keep the community in a state of chronic hunger. Some of them have ration cards, which allow them to buy grain at a very cheap rate at the state ration shops. However, not all can afford to buy those subsidies grains. Many members of the community eat only one meal per day consisting of rice and water. In addition to that appellant food situation, lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation leads to diseases causing deaths among the community members. FIAN has approached the local authorities several times on behalf of the Yanadulas to provide access to food and food production resources. However, till date, no measure has been taken. Weavers face hunger and starvation 400 weaver families, mainly Dalits, in village Shankarpur of district Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh are facing hunger and starvation due to a slow down in the weaving industry over the last years. Despite several starvation deaths and protest from the weavers most of them continue to be excluded from social programmes and face starvation. Mr. Vishambhar, a resident of this village, lost his job as a weaver. His family has no work, no land or other source of income. Despite being poor he was not given a ration card to get cheap, subsidized food grains from the state social programmes. Due to the lack of income and food his wife and two children aged two months and sixteen years died from starvation. Mr. Vishambhar and his surviving children continue to be excluded from adequate social programmes and face starvation. The case of the Vishambhar family is unfortunately not an isolated one.
States should respect and protect the rights of individuals with respect to resources such as land, water, forests, fisheries and livestock without any discrimination FAO Guidelines to support the right to food (8.1.). In 1991 India opened up its economy to free trade and foreign investments. Export of sugar and cotton, paper industries, hydro-electric dams and mining industries they all put increasing pressure on farming land, fresh water sources, fishing grounds and forests. It is these resources, on which most Indians depend for their subsistence. In the name of development, the Indian Government has assisted large corporations and foreign investors expropriate community resources, such as land, water and forest for commercial use. The Poor s access to land in rural India has worsened further due to various land acquisition drives of the state in the name of industrialisation and development. The latest addition to this initiative of land acquisition is Special Economic Zones (SEZ), and India has recently experienced most severe conflicts in the rural belts regarding access to land. All peoples have the right to selfdetermination. In no case may a person be deprived of its own means of subsistence. (Art. 1, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
Massive land eviction due to construction of a Special Economic Zone Livelihoods of 100.000 people from Nandigram, East Midnapore district, West Bengal are endangered by the eviction from their land and have to face increasing state violence. In July 31st, 2006, the West Bengal Government signed an agreement with the multi national corporation Salim group of Indonesia to implement various development projects including a mega chemical industrial estate, a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The affected people in Nandigram are mainly small and marginal farmers, sharecropper and agricultural labourers. The majority of them would be unable to find alternative livelihood opportunities. So far, no rehabilitation and compensation package for the affected people has been announced. The affected people have been organising protest against the establishment of the SEZ peacefully, but violence has been increasing. At least 20 persons lost their lives since 2007 through police fires. Mining leads to displacement of tribal people in Orissa Since 1994, the mining sector in Orissa, an Indian state, has been opened up to the investments of multinational companies. Today, the three major mining belts of Orissa house almost 300 active mines. Coal, iron ore and bauxite are extracted in huge open cast mines. This has threatened the access to resources for food and water of the Adivasis. They depend on the land and the forests for their survival. Even though Adivasi land is protected under Indian Law, the government of Orissa has been diluting these safeguards in order to attract investments. This has resulted in the displacement of Adivasis from their land. In the area of Kashipur (Orissa) alone, 150 000 persons have been displaced causing hunger and misery. The Adivasis of Kashipur have been struggling for their land for more than 12 years and now they face again increasing pressure, violence and threats from the government. In all our dreams we are seeing our land. We die, if we cannot live on our land. Because then we don t have the kind of well-being that our land has given to us. Singha Lakra, Adivasi from Orissa
The continuing contamination, depletion and unequal distribution of water is exacerbating poverty Water is fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a healthy life in human dignity. It is a pre-requisite to the realisation of all other human rights. (General Comment No. 15 to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) Water is a key resource for growing food and raising cattle. Sustained access to water for irrigation is a question of survival for about 70% of the Indian population. This number includes disadvantaged and marginalised farmers, and those surviving by subsistence farming as well as agricultural labourers.
Livelihood of 20.000 people destroyed by chemical industrial estate in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu SIPCOT chemical industrial estate is causing pollution of the surrounding agricultural lands. Most of these industries are classified as highly polluting industries and are totally banned within five kilometres of any rivers, tanks canals and dams. However, SIPCOT is located at the banks of Uppanar river and extends over 300 acres of agricultural land with abundant underground water inmidth of agrarian and fishing villages. Farmers are facing extreme difficulties to cultivate because of the impacts of pollution. As the number of fish in the backwaters has drastically decreased, fisher folk is hugely affected as well. As effective affluent treatment plant is not in operation. Inaction of the state owned agencies and inefficient implementation has been beneficial for the polluters.
The right to food is realized when every man, women and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food, or to means of its procurement. General Comment No. 12 (1999) to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Different parts of the population are particularly exposed to right to food violations, amongst them huge parts of the rural populations, indigenous people, migrant workers, children, the elderly and handicapped persons. Across all these groups, women and girls are particularly affected by malnutrition and hunger. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for the Right to Adequate Food take a clear stand against discrimination. Priority must be given to the realisation of the right to food of the most vulnerable groups.
Supreme Court strengthens children s rights The government of India has developed several welfare schemes to secure the right to food of its citizens, especially children. One such scheme is the midday meal scheme, providing school meals to pupils of government schools. The distribution of these free meals improves the nutritional situation of the children. Where the midday meal scheme was implemented it has shown very positive results. In 2001 the Supreme Court of India directed the state governments to implement such schemes all over India. Big success for the right to food of children The state of Uttar Pradesh claimed its inability to implement the Supreme Court order for lack of funds. FIAN and its allies ran a campaign to fight against violations of the children s right to food in Uttar Pradesh. In 2002, FIAN started documenting systematic violations of the right to food of school children in government schools in Allahabad. The Supreme Court of India was urged to consider ways of holding the state government accountable for its inaction. At the same time, communities and teachers in the area received training and were informed about their rights. After intensive campaigning efforts are bearing fruits. As a very positive result the state government of Uttar Pradesh has started midday meal schemes in 2003 in 16 selected poor districts. In 2004 the scheme was extended to all other districts. Now, about 17 million children from more than 90.000 government run primary schools directly benefit from this scheme.
FIAN is the international human rights organisation promoting and defending the human right to adequate food. Founded in 1986, FIAN is an independent not for profit organisation with consultative status at the United Nations. FIAN members, groups and sections are active in 50 countries. Apart from concrete case work, FIAN is promoting the right to food through educational programs and policy oriented advocacy at the local, regional, and international level. Become a human rights defender FIAN s particular strength is its international presence. The direct contact with the affected groups allows FIAN to react quickly. Members support of FIAN interventions is essential to put international pressure on the responsible authorities to stop violations of the right to food. This is why it is so important that you become a human rights defender and support the victims by Contributing to the investigation, analysis and documentation of right to food violations Denouncing right to food violations to make governments meet their obligations Mobilising support and taking action in your social environment, community or country Joining forces with other human rights defenders in local FIAN groups.
FIAN promotes the human right to food as it is enshrined in the UN International Bill of Human Rights. Information FIAN informs affected groups, especially the rural poor, about their right to food and alerts the general public about violations of this right. Action FIAN documents right to food violations, adopts cases and intervenes at local, national and international levels. Network FIAN sections, co-ordinations, local groups and individual members in more than 50 countries all over the world join hands for the realisation of the right to food.
FIAN s success depends on your participation You can become a member, participate in our activities and contribute to FIAN s evolution. You can also make a donation and help us carrying on activities to implement the human right to feed oneself. Please send back or fax the tag below duely filled out. FIAN International Secretariat P.O. Box 10 22 43 D-69012 Heidelberg, Germany Tel: +49 6221 65300 30 Fax: +49 6221 830 545 email: ebert@fian.org www.fian.org Bank account: H & G Bank Heidelberg (Germany) International Account No. (IBAN): DE27672901000058078409 BIC/SWIFT Code: GENO DE 61 HD 3 I want to become a FIAN member I want to subscribe to the Right to Food Quarterly I want to receive more information on FIAN Name: Address: email: FIAN India Delhi Office 1/14 B,Jungpura-A, New Delhi-110025, India fianindia@yahoo.com www.fian.in FIAN Andhra Pradesh 502, D-Block, 3 Keerthi Tower Lalapet, Secunderabad-500017 Andhra Pradesh, India Tel: +91 40 27015838 fian_andhrachapter@yahoo.co.in FIAN Karnataka 9th Cross Bhagyanagar Belgam 590006 Karnataka, India Tel: +91 831 2484491 fianashraya@sancharnet.in FIAN Tamilnadu 11P.T.Rajan Road, 5 Street Madurai 625002. Tamilnadu, India Tel: +91 452 4360810 fiantn@rediffmail.com FIAN Uttar Pradesh A-8, Sarvodaya Nagar Indira Nagar Lucknow-226016 Uttar Pradesh, India INDIA Tel: +91 522 2349556 fianup@yahoo.com FIAN West Bengal 195 Jodhpur Park Kolkata 700068, West Bengal India Tel:+91 33 24128426, 24732740 fianwestbengal@vsnl.net FIAN International Willy-Brandt-Platz 5 69115 Heidelberg, Germany Tel.:+49-6221-6530030 Fax:+49-6221-830545 E-mail: fian@fian.org http://www.fian.org