New Delhi: A people’s conclave in Delhi on Tuesday urged all political parties to make food and social security their top priorities issues in the run-up to the state assembly elections. Delhi is scheduled to vote to elect its seventh assembly on February 8.
At the conclave or ‘jan manch‘, organised by the Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan, leaders from the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Swaraj India were present but not from the BJP. While AAP was represented by Ajoy Kumar, the Congress was represented by Aman Panwar and Arbind Singh and Swaraj India’s Navnit Tiwari attended the conclave on behalf of his party.
These leaders gave assurances to take all the demands raised at the meet forward and to include specific points that could be implemented in the manifestos of their respective parties.
The meet, attended by residents of slum settlements, members of the transgender community, homeless persons, construction workers, children, persons with disabilities, rag pickers and daily wage earners, also issued a clarion call saying “Ration, pension nahi, toh vote nahi (No vote if there is no ration, pension)”.
One of the participants at the Jan Manch speaks about food and social security related issues. Photo: Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan
A number of people also noted how and why daily issues pertaining to food and social security impacted them the most. The testimonies provided an insight into the struggles many undergo on a daily basis.
During the conclave, some of the participants spoke about how the quota system, adopted by the government for the issuance of ration cards, was leading to a denial of these cards to many families. Three women – Sangeeta, Mithlesh and Neelam – from Kusumpur Pahadi highlighted how their applications were filed in 2018 and yet their status remained ‘pending’ because of the limit.
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Jan Manch in Delhi. Photo: Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan
In some cases, the testimonies revealed that poor people have not been issued ration cards even after four years of having applied for it. Two such examples were that of Poonam from Janta Mazdoor Colony and Ramwati from Mangolpuri.
From the organisers, Anjali Bharadwaj and Amrita Johri shed light on how in Delhi, lack of food security and social security continues to be a reality for millions of people. “Thousands of people have been left out of the ambit of the National Food Security Act, 2013 due to inadequate coverage, inadequate resources and budgets, insistence on Aadhaar and lack of provisions to address food insecurity of the most marginalised including homeless and transgenders,” they said.
Right to Food activist Dipa Sinha and National Federation of Indian Women general secretary Annie Raja also reflected on issues related to food security and women during the meet.
The conclave also highlighted how people were being left out of the food security net since Aadhaar had been made mandatory. Several people shared their experiences in this regard.
One of them was Mohammad Sadiq of Sonia Vihar who held forth on how there were 10 members in his household and yet only the names of four figured on the ration card. Due to this they only get 20 kg of grain as opposed to their entitlement of 50 kg.
Some residents also noted the absence of an effective grievance redressal framework to address such problems.
While the deaths of three minor girls due to starvation in Mandavali, East Delhi in July 2018 had served as a warning to the authorities, the meet highlighted how the lessons have still not been learnt.
A resident of Mangolpuri, Pooja, claimed that there was a starvation death in her area recently. She said that the daughter of the tenant living above her jhuggi (slum) was ill and the family had no food to feed her for three days which ultimately led to her death.
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The meet was also attended by homeless persons who lived close to Jama Masjid or in the trans-Yamuna areas. One of them, Taranum said that since they had no identity documents, they were unable to apply for a ration card and didn’t even get employment they were told that they were a security risk since they were undocumented. Many of them also raised a demand for setting up more community kitchens for the poor and the homeless.
Issues pertaining to women working in the unorganised sector and members of the transgender community were also raised during the meet.
The meet also saw several speakers urge political parties to not allow the Centre to implement the National Register for Citizens and the National Population Register. They insisted that this move would exclude the poor, women, Muslims, Dalits and most marginalised since many of them were not in possession of the necessary documents.