Editorial August 2012

  EDITORIAL AUGUST 2012

CONTAIN   PRICE RISE AND ENSURE FOOD SECURITY     

TO ALL AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT.

 

India has largest number of malnourished and under nourished people in the world. The prices of food items are sky rocketing and the food inflation is over 10 percent. From the year 2007 onwards the prices of all goods and in particular the food items have been rising too fast to catch up by the meager income of the people. This phenomenon of soaring prices has resulted in the fall of purchasing capacity of people forcing them to consume less and less food besides compromising with the other basic needs. In the prevailing escalating price regime of essential commodities, one cannot survive with the present meager income unless the wages are suitably increased and the prices are contained.

 

As a result of pursuing the reforms dictated by the world bank the growth rate of food items has fallen to 1.3 percent during 2000 to 2011 compared to the growth rate of 2.7 percent during 1981 to 1990 i.e., before the reforms are started. As per the national sample survey data the food grain consumption is continuously falling in all groups of population from poorest to the rich except 10 percent of the richest of the rich who are consuming not only more but also rich food. An estimated 80 percent of population is actually eating less than the required calories of food, daily.

 

The official norm of daily consumption of food is 2200 calories for rural population and 2100 calories for urban population (ILC norm is 2700 calories). The people falling below this consumption are poor. But the Government continuously lowering the living standards by falsely showing that a person spending Rs.22/- per day in rural area and spending Rs.29 per day in urban area are above poverty line which is an absurd level as these amounts will not cover essential costs of living at all. In fact the people spending below this level are called as destitute. The planning commission based on its in correct estimates is currently excluding 41 percent of the rural population and 52 percent of the urban population from the below poverty line category.

The following table indicates the percentage of persons in poverty sharply increased  after the Economic reforms started which indicates that 75 percent of  rural population and 73 percent of urban population was actually poor by 2009- 2010.

Table indicating the trends in the true percentage of persons in poverty for the period from 1973-74 to 2009-10.

                                                   1973-74      1983-84       1993-94     2004-05               2009-10.

Rural area

Percentage of persons below     56.4%           56%              58.5%       69.5%        75%

2200 calories daily intake.

Urban area

Percentage of persons below      49.2%        58.5%             57%            64.5%                73%

2100 calories daily intake.  

 

Further, the families are forced to sacrifice the food not only because their money incomes are not rising enough to keep pace with the food price inflation, but also owing to the steep hike in essential medical, educational and utilities costs as these are increasingly privatized.

Therefore   people of this country demand the Government to act swiftly to:

*immediately take measures to curb the price rise and raise the wages.

*scrap the planning commission’s highly dubious poverty estimates and do not    use them as basis for allocations of welfare rights.

*introduce a universal public distribution system of all essential commodities as a measure of security of food for all as a fundamental right to life.

*enlarge the rural MGNREGS and introduce urban employment scheme duly increasing the minimum wages.

*increase the strength of staff and workers commensurate with the increased work load and reduce the burden of work load on the existing staff and workers by filling up all the vacancies absorbing the unemployed.

*implement Swaminathan commission recommendations for a fair procurement price and profit margin to farmers and take steps to increase agricultural produce.

In this regard the left parties are staging a 5 day sit in protest at Jantar mantar from July 30th to august 3^rd 2012 in New Delhi and organizing rallies in the state capitals during this protest period. All the people are required to make these programs a success.

 

                                                          THOTA HANUMAIAH.