An Open Appeal to all concerned to help deprived people file
complaint directly to State Food Commission in respect of denial of Ration Card
to eligible Households under National Food Security Act
All of you are aware that National
Food Security Act, 1913 has the mandate
to provide food and nutritional
security in human life cycle approach by
ensuring access to adequate quantity of
quality food at affordable price to all the people to live with
dignity. As per section 10 of the Act,
each State Govt. is required to
carry out exercise to identify the
eligible Household termed
as priority households and
the beneficiaries to be covered
under Antodaya Anna Yojana within one year
( by July 2014) of the implementation of NFSA.
In fact, in 2014 Govt. of Odisha started exercise to
identify eligible Household (HH) and beneficiaries to be covered under Antodaya
Anna Yojana and took one year to complete the survey and prepare the list of
Priority Households and beneficiaries under AAY. The whole process completed by
October 2015. But during that time it was
found that thousands of poor people, tribals, dalits have been deprived to get
ration card due to corruption,
favouritism, nepotism. Thousands of rich people got succeeded to get
the ration card by manipulating the procedure and influencing the officials or
unholy alliance with the officials. However
after hue and cry and rasta roko and gherao organised by political parties and Civil Society Groups in different places in protest against exclusion of the poor in the list of
eligible HHs, the State Govt. made a
request to file complaint in the block
office which will be enquired by BDO
and action to be taken accordingly.
Thousands of complaints were filed in the block office
to get the ration card. But their complaints were neither heard nor enquired.
Rather it found gathering dust in the block office.
In January, 2016, when the State Govt. designated
State Information Commission as State Food Commission to receive complaints
from the people, Right to Food Campaign, Odisha and other Civil
Society Groups filed 5000 complaints to State Information Commission about denial
of ration card to them. But these
complaints were simply stored in the office of State Information Commission for
months together due to lack of resources and staff shortage. Keeping it in view, demonstration was
organised in Bhubaneswar demanding constitution of independent State Food
Commission. Then, being pressurised, the
State Govt. constituted State Food
Commission in June 2016 with appointment
of Chairman and two members.
In the last month,
I had the opportunity to
meet the whole body of State Food
Commission for discussion about my complaint on child death issue in
Malkangiri. During discussion, I appraised the Commission about pendency of
5000 complaint cases for ration
card. The Commission assured me to take
steps in this regard. Now,
State Food Commission has
started issuing order to concerned authorities
to enquire into the complaints
and take action accordingly.
It has come to my notice
from grass-root level that
enquiry has started and many people have got
the card.
.
So, I appeal all the Activists and the organisations
working for the poor to organise
the people and help them write
complaints ad file it to the Chairman, State
Food Commission, Toshali Bhawan, Satya Nagar, Bhubaneswar-751007. The complaint
shall be written in plain paper and in
Odia. It should be hand-written. Thousands of complaints should be filed to
Commission with appeal to provide ration card within 7 days.
If the poor people could not
get justice within a stipulated time period, the Civil Society Groups will steer public action at state
and district level to enforce the right
and entitlement of the people as
mandated under NFSA.
Pradip Pradhan
State Convener
Right to Food Campaign,
Odisha
M-9937843482
Date-13.12.16
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