West Bengal Demands Immediate Food Security Legislation

West Bengal Left Front Committee has launched a huge statewide signature campaign as a part of the nationwide campaign ensuring the demand for 35 kg rice at the cost of Rs.2 per kg for every household beyond APL or BPL delimitation. The historic signature campaign would thus fulfill the slogan of Food for All. So the demand affirms no distinction between APL and BPL, the government has to ensure Food for All. Every signature therefore would ensure a step forward to fulfill the demand throughout 19 districts of the state. While inaugurating the signature campaign Left Front Chairman Biman Basu at Entally market area said that food grains are getting rotten in government stores, gobbled by rats. But people still starve to death in this country. This is no way acceptable. To ensure Food Security the Left Front would ensure 5 crores signature in the whole country in which the 19 districts of West Bengal would ensure 1.5 crores signatures. ‘We would reach every household with the demand of Food Security for all, interact with them. People would give their signature to ensure food for millions of lives. We are trying to convince the Prime Minister the actual food situation of the country, said Biman Basu. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, veteran Left Front leader Ashok Ghosh, and other Left Front leaders initiated the signature campaign programme. While speaking on how the UPA government has not fulfilled the promise they once assured to the people of India, the leader of opposition Surya Kanta Misra said that ‘the Presidential speech of the first session after the UPA-II government came in power assured the promulgation of Food Security Act within first 100 days of the government. Time has gone by from 2009 to 2012, but that 100 days never returned’. Biman Basu also said in this context that ‘it was a long standing demand of the Left Front that the country must implement Food Security Act to prevent starvation and death. Although the bill is prepared and tabled but the act is yet to be promulgated’. Misra while criticizing the UPA government said that ‘the government spares no time to ensure food security for its own people whereas it takes no time to implement FDI in retail sector. It takes a minute to hike the price of Petrol, Diesel and Cooking Gas’. The signature campaign programme in its inaugural day has however witnessed people’s spontaneous participation. From leaders of different parties to the dignitaries of different field of excellence to the common mass the campaign marked its success and promise to succeed the month long programme. The important signatories were Ashok Ghosh, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Biman Basu, Manjukumar Majumder, Kshiti Goswami, Surya Kanta Misra, Rabin Deb, Raghunath Kushari, Avik dutta, Pratim Chatterjee, Manoj Bhattacharya, Subhas Roy, shaibal Chatterjee, Jayanta Roy, Shayamsri Das, former Vice Chancellor Pabitra Sarkar, Shubhankar Chakraborty, Ashok Nath Basu, Dilip Basu, Malini Bhattacharya, litterateur Abul Bashar, film director Tarun Majumdar etc.