Politics Overshadows Discussion On Food Security In Delhi

In a brazen attack on the city’s marginalised population, the food commissioner of Delhi- Mohanjeet Singh cancelled approximately 2.48 lakh ration cards on August 21. Reacting to this development, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned him with disciplinary action. What followed was a series of pot shots were thrown, without any care for the people left without food security, who should ideally have been at the center of this discussion. 

Singh has stated that ‘due process’ was followed when the names were chalked out of the list, however, the list is still not out in the public domain and there is no clarity over what this supposed ‘due process’ entailed.
 
Speaking with NewsClick, Amrita Johri working with the Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA), a key organisation taking on the government over food security said, “The politics over the issue is just sad, the interests of the people are completely sidelined, no safeguards were taken before the implementation of this step.” The focal point in this activity is not just the deleting of people’s names from the list, it is a question of the denial of the basic right of food to the people.
 
Before taking this action which will have long term repercussions, the government failed to ensure proper safeguards. The list should have been put in the public domain for people to come to terms with the fact that their cards may get cancelled. The government also did not state if field verification was carried out at any level prior to this cancellation. Under the current system, the registered people need to voluntarily get themselves verified. As such, this system has been a failure at catering to those who are uneducated and have been living at the margins, not aware of the logistical steps needed.

 The Delhi food commissioner had also stated that the city will be adding over two lakh new people to the ration card scheme after the food department deleted the names of beneficiaries who didn’t collect rations from January to March. All 70 of the food and supply officers have been asked to speed up the processing of fresh applications. Timarpur MLA Pankaj Pushkar said it will be the first time in five years that new names will be added to the list of people who get subsidised rations under the National Food Security Act, 2013.

Interestingly, the Delhi government is currently facing flak from the High Court over the improper implementation of the act. The issue came to the fore with the horrendous deaths of three minor girls in Delhi’s Mandawali, due to starvation in July this year. On Friday, the court stated that the Delhi government had not taken any concrete steps for the implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), even five years after it was introduced. The court has given the government an ultimatum of two weeks to come up with a framework for the implementation of the act. The act guarantees provision of subsidised ration through the Public Distribution System (PDS) to about two-thirds of the nation's population for which the state governments were supposed to frame and notify rules. Even after these shocking instances, the Delhi government is yet to frame and promulgate guidelines needed to ensure accountability, transparency, and to establish a grievance redressal mechanism.

 This is not the first time that a directive has been issued to the Delhi government, a similar order had been issued last year by the court. Even after that, the state failed to establish regular social audits and a state food commission. If these mechanisms were put in place, the starvation deaths could have been avoided. Amrita added, “There is massive corruption in the PDS system, if the AAP government is so committed to ending the quantitative and qualitative corruption, why are there no social audits, where is the state commission?” The government’s laxity gets exposed as even the most basic statutory provisions remain unimplemented till now. 

The latest court hearing was a result of the efforts of the Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA). The issue of the ration cards in the city garnered attention last year when the constitutionality of the Aadhar was being discussed. Previously, the government had mandated Aadhar linking as a precondition for the registration of the ration cards, which was later made applicable to the procurement of the grains as well. A verification by the court highlighted the severity of the problem and the grim reality of the households, who were suffering tremendously without the availability of any food; confused and disenchanted with the complex authentication process required to feed themselves. 

Kejriwal’s latest attack and the food commissioner’s rebuttal appear to have again set the stage for another round of tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Delhi bureaucracy. This tussle has also been reflected in Kejriwal’s attacks on the center for the skewed implementation of PDS in the state. However, underlying the political rhetoric it needs to be understood that the issue of food is a state subject and comes directly under Kejriwal’s jurisdiction, and him “lashing out” at the food commissioner should not in any way absolve off blame from him or his party. Amidst the political blame game, it is important to focus attention on the denial of the most basic right of food and survival by the government to its people. As the case unfolds legally, all eyes will be on Kejriwal’s next move, even as lakhs of people across households in the city await clarification over their eligibility for food with their ration cards.