National Food Security Bill will weaken food security: S Ramachandran Pillai

 Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member S. Ramachandran Pillai has said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's proposed National Food Security Bill will undermine the country's food security by destroying the public distribution system (PDS).

Inaugurating the State conference of the Adivasi Kshema Samithi (AKS) here on Saturday, Mr. Pillai said the draft Bill would lead to food insecurity as it sought to destroy the limited PDS system existing in the country. The food coupon system envisaged in the proposed Bill would in no way check price rise in the open market and restricted the allocation of grain to BPL (below poverty line) families from 35 kg to 25 kg a month.

Mr. Pillai, who is also president of All India Kisan Sabha, said the Bill was the latest of a series of anti-people measures of the UPA government. Observing that economic disparities in the country were deepening because of the neo-liberal economic policies of the Manmohan Singh government, he said the poor had become poorer and rich richer as a result of the policies. Marginalised segments of population such as the Adivasis were bearing the brunt of the adversities caused by such policies, he added.

Adivasis' plight

Stating that the issue of land for the landless Adivasis was raised for highlighting their rights to get land for their economic progress, Mr. Pillai said the government should institute a system to ensure fair price for forest resources being sold by the Adivasis and launch projects for processing them. He also said that providing educational facilities for the Adivasis was essential for equipping them to compete with others. The Adivasis accounted for 8.2 per cent of the population in the country and they were also among the most marginalised segments, Mr. Pillai said adding that the Central Budget 2010-11, however, earmarked 4.13 per cent of the Central government's development fund for the Adivasis. The government, should have apportioned 8.2 per cent for the Adivasis, he said.

The marginalised segments were ignored while corporate houses were given huge concessions, he alleged.

Majority of the Adivasis in the country had no jobs and their health, education and cultural facilities were minimal. Sixty years of independence had totally failed to address the problems being faced by the Adivasis.

The crisis in the agricultural sector had also badly affected the Adivasis, he said adding that the price rise was also making life difficult for them.

Tracing the history of the exploitation to the colonial British period in the country, the CPI(M) leader said that the new form of feudalism created during the British rule had intensified the exploitation. AKS State president P. Rajan, MLAs P. Jayarajan, M. Prakashan, CPI(M) leaders P. Sasi and M.V. Govindan were also present at the conference.

(Courtesy : the Hindu)