Nitish Banka

    • Right to food

    Food is the basic necessity to have sustenance of life. We see different sect of people in India, there is a sect of people who have lavish food and who are even ready to waste it in the same of revellers and there are another sect of people who don’t even have their basic meals per day. The point I want to bring to your notice is that do we have the right to food as anyother their right conferred by the constitution and the answer to this question is YES as any other right we Indian even have the Right to food. The supreme court of India in both kishen patinayak and another v state of Orissa and Peoples union for civil liberties v union of India&others has categorically recognised the RTF(Right to food) under the stipulated Article 21 of the constitution and also DPSP(Directive principles of state policy), but another question which arises out of this is against whom is this violation of  Right to food is enforced, is the state or private body our upon our own disability…..

    The latest incident about 20 children dead in Bihar due to poisoning of the mid day meals given by none another than the government, who is to be blamed in this the government, the middle men or the children themselves for their own destiny……the right to food does not mean that the government has the obligation to give free food to people it is only when people are deprived of food the government comes into picture to rescue them as said in the above incident.

    After all this if u get a doubt on what actually the right to food means? Here is your answer it means the right to get food for themselves with dignity, sufficient food is available and people should have the means to access it which fulfils the requirement of daily calorie intake. The right to food confers on every person the right to be away from hunger, malnutrition, food insecurity.

    Every human being is born with the inherent right to food it is generally credited to a famous speech by President Franklin Roosevelt of the U.S.A called the four freedoms- of Speech, of faith, from want, from fear. This is included in the universal declaration of human rights adopted in 1948.

    Right to food is included in the international covenant and economic, social, cultural rights and adopted by the U.N general assembly in 1966. A total 156 countries have ratified it upto date. Article 11 of the covenant of economic, social, cultural rights recognises adequate standard of living……including Right of everyone to be free from hunger.

    India’s right to food effort accelerated in 2001 with a law suit brought by civil liberties NGO in Rajasthan.

    The important thing that has to be noticed by us is that when people certain rights they even do have certain duties and obligations to be fulfilled, fortunately or unfortunately we only remember our rights and not duties so when people have the right to food they even have the obligation not to waste it as they generally do it all sumptuous festivals, ceremonies, amusements. It is to be noticed that a person’s right becomes a duty of others that is if a person has a right to food another person has the duty not to waste it and use it in the proper sense so that it becomes a meal for the needy…

     By-: Taruni Banda

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