CCL is hosting a two-day national consultation titled “A Decade of the Food Security Law in India: Reflections and Way forward” on 20th and 21st September 2023 at the Training Centre, NLSIU campus, Bengaluru. Commemorating the significance of a decade since the enactment of the food security law in India, this consultation seeks to reflect on the journey that effectively translated benefits into entitlements. Furthermore, it seeks to provide a platform to discuss a plethora of issues beyond the scope of the legislation, that are necessary to achieve food security in a holistic, equitable and sustainable manner. This consultation envisages a platform to host six technical sessions across a wide spectrum of themes including food systems, water, climate change and governance.
The two day consultation is expected to throw light on a plethora of avenues at legal, policy, institutional and implementation levels, to strengthen food security in India. These discussions will be pivotal in deriving solutions and practices to strengthen the implementation of the legislation. Insights from this discussion will factor into a larger discourse on achieving food and nutrition security in the country.
Background
In it’s 77th year of independence, India is at the cusp of achieving incredible progress and scaling great heights economically, technologically and demographically. Yet, nutrition and health indicators remain a grave concern. As per the global hunger index 2022, India has the highest number of children with wasting (19.3%). Although stunting and underweight rates have reduced, anaemia in women (at 53%) aged 15-49 years is perhaps among the countries with highest prevalence.
India has to it’s credit a wide array of policies, programmes and plans that were aimed at combating the challenges associated with malnutrition and children. The National Food Security Act (NFSA) , 2013 was one such milestone that laid the foundation for a rights based approach for food and nutrition security in India. Enacted on 5th July 2013, the Act emerged as a beacon of hope for lakhs of people belonging to vulnerable communities, children, pregnant women and lactating mothers who were largely dependent on state-funded provisioning of grains and supplementary nutrition to overcome the ordeals associated with food and nutrient shortages. As of today, with a budget allocation of approximately Rs. 2,40,876 crores (for 2022-2023), across four crucial schemes-Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDMS) and Maternity Benefit Schemes (MBS), the NFSA, 2013 facilitates the realization of right to food and nutrition security for 92 crore rights holders in the country.
Ten years since the enactment of the legislation, challenges continue to persist. Poor coverage of eligible right holders, disrupted supply chains, poor quality of entitlements, lack of nutrient cultural diversity, poor governance and lack of awareness are some of the challenges that impede the effective realization of the objectives envisaged in the legislation. That apart, a wide array of challenges have emerged in the context of climate change, evolving food systems and depleting resources.
Technical Sessions:
Technical session 1: Food security and the Indian Constitution
Brief: The food security law in India is deeply governed by the principles laid down in the constitution of India. Although the right to food is not explicitly mentioned, Article 21-Right to life and personal liberty clearly recognises the role of the State to facilitate the realization of the right to food for all. This technical session aims at revisiting the foundational principles of the constitution, role of the judiciary and significance of the normative and legal frameworks in protecting the right to food of the marginalized and vulnerable sections of the society. This session will be moderated by Dr. Sarau Thomas, faculty of Law, NLSIU and will facilitate insights from three key speakers-Prof. Babu Mathew, Faculty of Law, NLSIU, Mr. Sachin Jain, VIKAS SAMVAD and Adv. Rajendran, Former member-Kerala State Food Commission.
Technical session 2: A Rights Based Approach to Achieving Food Security in India
Brief: The enactment of the National Food Security Act, 2013 in India was a watershed moment, marking a significant transition from a welfare based to a rights based approach. The realization of food security must be rooted in the recognition of components-accessibility, adequacy, availability, stability and sustainability, and principles-participation, accountability, non-discrimination, transparency, human dignity, empowerment and rule of law (also known as PANTHER principles). This session aims to capture how a rights based approach can be leveraged to ensure food security for all. This session will be moderated by Mr. K. Thirumal Reddy, Former Chairperson Telangana State Food Commission. The speakers for this first half of this session are Shri. Haldhar Mahto, Social Audit Unit, Jharkhand and Shri. Gurjeet Singh, Mission Manager National Resource cell for social audit. The second half of the session will facilitate insights from Ms. Kavita Srivastava (PUCL) and Ms. Aysha Khan (Right to Food Campaign) and will be moderated by Dr. Ujjaini Halim, IMSE
Technical session 3: Nutrition-Vulnerabilities, Barriers and Opportunities
Brief: The access and utilization of nutritious food by an individual is largely determined by household factors such as income, gender, distribution of resources and prioritization and control of expenses. This session is aimed at highlighting some of the challenges and barriers that impede access to adequate nutrients in vulnerable groups. This session will entail discussions on how responses can be devised at policy, institutional and implementation channels. This session will be moderated by Ms. Sasmita Jena, Welthungerhilfe. The speakers for this session are Dr. Sudeshna Sengupta (independent researcher) , Ms. Anuradha Talwar (Paschim Banga Cha Majdoor Samiti, RTF Campaign, West Bengal), and Mr. Nagesh Hegde (senior journalist).
Technical session 4: Safe and Nutritious food
Brief: Access to safe and nutritious food has emerged as a key concern in the global scenario, given the challenges associated with food production, processing, storage and distribution systems. This session aims at facilitating critical discussions on poor nutritional and health indicators in children and women in the backdrop of riveting political, economical, environmental and systemic changes including recent food fortification and policy on genetically modified crops. This session will be moderated by Ms. Jyotsna Sripada, Research Associate, Centre for Child and the Law and the speakers for this session are Dr. Veena Shatrugna, Former Deputy Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Dr. M. S Tara, Former regional director, NIPCCD and Dr. Mallesh Kariyappa, Professor and Head, Department of Paediatrics, Vani Vilas Hospital.
Technical session 5: Political Economy of Food Security
Brief: The political economy landscape of any country determines the political will to prioritize food security, while ensuring a feasible, sustained and operational funding mechanism. Given the trends associated with funding of major food and agricultural programmes in the country, budget allocations for various domains responsible for achieving food security including agriculture and nutrition programmes will be examined as part of this session. This session will be moderated by Dr. Neetu Sharma, Centre Coordinator and Programme Head, Centre for Child and the Law and the speakers for this session are Prof R Ramakumar, TISS, Mumbai, Mr. Madhusudan, Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, Bangalore and Mr. Nesar Ahmad, Budget Analysis Research Centre, Jaipur.
Technical session 6: Environment and it’s impact on food security
Brief: The changing environment has a direct implication on the availability, accessibility, adequacy and stability of food production. This session on impact of environment seeks to highlight some of the concerns associated with environmental degradation and it’s impact on food systems. This session will be moderated by Ms. Bhargavi S Rao, Researcher and Senior Trustee, Environment Support Group. The speakers for this session will be Dr. Sairam Bhat, Professor of Law and Centre Coordinator, Centre for Environmental Law Education, Research and Advocacy (CEERA) and Mr. Leo Saldanha, Environment Support Group.
About Centre for Child and the Law
The Centre for Child and the Law (CCL) was established as a specialized research multi-disciplinary centre of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, on 1st April 1996. CCL NLSIU strives to contribute to a world where all children live with dignity, achieving their full potential. The Centre adopts a child centric society in which the State is accountable to children, empowers communities, especially marginalized children, to claim and realize their rights. It also focuses on inter-disciplinary policy research, legal reform, systemic reform, advocacy and lobbying with Central/State governments to ensure accountability for effective realization of child rights. The three prominent programmes are Food Security, Child Protection and Education.
The Archives at NCBS and the QAMRA Archival Project, NLSIU, are organising a public lecture on the topic “Contested Terrain – Lawyering for Forest Rights” by Shomona Khanna, an advocate practicing in the Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court, on September 15, 2023. The lecture will take place at the Alternative Law Forum, Bengaluru and will be followed by a conversation with NLS faculty member Radhika Chitkara.