Both food and nutrition security are well recognised in the Indian legal system
The Supreme Court recently directed the government to expand the coverage under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) - 2013, so that more needy persons are benefited. The case for enlarging NFSA’s ambit is string.
Both the international and the national legal system recognise the right to food as part of basic human right. It ensures that the people have adequate access to food and nutrition for their livelihood without any discrimination. This right to food and nutrition is associated with the right to life and dignity.
The earlier welfare approach has transformed into a rights-based approach, which puts the State under the obligation to protect these essential interests. The committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights holds that the right to food consists of three components.
Availability is the first component. It is to ensure that sufficient food is available for not only the present but also the coming generations. The second component is adequacy, which implies that individual diet requirements are enriched with nutritious quality apart from the quantity of food available. The last component, accessibility, entails that the financial cost required to obtain the adequate food should be reasonable enough such that it does not affect the fulfillment of other needs.
The Right to Food has been embodied in the International Human Rights and has been expressly incorporated in many international legal documents. The Right to Food has been also enshrined in the Indian constitution in the context of Article 21. It is deemed as an integral aspect of right to live with dignity and accordingly has been placed within the contours of enforceable fundamental rights. The Directive Principles of State Policy under Article 47 provides the duty of the State for raising the level of nutrition and the standard of living and public health.
The National Food and Security Act (NFSA) - 2013 endeavours to guarantee nourishment to masses by enabling provision of adequate quantity of quality food so that the people can lead a dignified life. It attempts to make food available at affordable rates and ensure food security and stability. Several shortcomings have been pointed out in respect of the Act. For example, it does not explicitly include the issues of hunger and malnutrition. Inclusion of private players in the supply chain may lead to unfair trade practices. No emphasis is laid on healthcare, sanitation and nutritional requirements.
NITI Aayog, as part of a discussion paper, has recommended reduction in rural and urban coverage under NFSA, which would result in a significant saving that would later be utilised for health and educational purposes, especially in the pandemic situation.
It proposes to reduce the National Rural-Urban Coverage ratio from 75 to 60 for rural coverage and 50 to 40 for urban coverage. NITI Aayog has also been requested by the Department of Food and Public Distribution for suggesting an alternative method for beneficiary coverage under NFSA, inclusive of the prospective beneficiaries.
It is pertinent to note that the rural-urban coverage ratio under NFSA has been fixed by virtue of Section 3 (2). The food subsidy is increasing and becoming more unmanageable. In view of this, the Economic Survey of 2020-21 has also suggested revision of the pricing of foodgrains, which has remained constant over the years.
The paper also covered the aspects of revision of coverage in the State and Union Territories, as well as the identification of the eligible beneficiaries. However, this discussion on bringing about reform in the coverage ratio is a subject of debate. The proposed move, which is not yet in the final stage, is criticised for not being based on any objective findings related to its impact or operation, but is primarily focused on lowering food subsidy.
The reform may turn out to be regressive as it stands in contradiction to the coverage expansion measure under NFSA. Abrupt reduction in beneficiaries of the public distribution system would imply excluding a vast majority of poor people who actually require support of the government.
This move may also affect the goal of nutritional security under NFSA. At a juncture, where the pandemic has weakened the food security and livelihood, such a move may further worsen the food and nutrition security. Instead attempts should be directed for making NFSA more effective. For instance, there is scope to enlarge its scope to meet nutritional requirements of beneficiaries by including edible oils and pulses.
Besides, the success and impact of the Act is dependent upon the inclusion of provisions for nutrient rich food and market mechanism regarding affordable pricing and food storage. NFSA lays more emphasis on foodgrains like wheat, rice and other cereals and completely overlooks nutritional aspects. Consequently, in spite of the increased production of grains, India still lags on the nutritional part.
Therefore, to overcome the challenges and improve food security, the following steps that can be undertaken:
· The method of direct bank transfers can be expanded with a few reformations such as by linking these bank transfers with immunizations and school attendance. Raising awareness among masses about the benefits of this method and not sparing it for expenses other than food. Much careful monitoring and evaluation mechanism should be introduced to make it more efficient.
· The object of the public distribution system should also include within its ambit the nutritional security besides food security. Such nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific approach is required in the light of the several surveys and findings of deficiencies and unhealthy growth and development. Such measures would involve changes in procuring, storing, transporting and distributing of the food items. However, this would help realise the true legislative intent of this programme.
· It is significant to include a more diversified diet. Steps should be taken to diminish the existing imbalance in the nutritional outcomes and dietary practices. As such diversification may consequently lead to more expenditure, therefore it would be required to identify and separate beneficiaries, who are not eligible.
In any organised society, right to life as a human being is not ensured by meeting only the animal needs of man. It is secured only when s/he is assured of all facilities to develop himself and is freed from restrictions which inhibit her/his growth. All human rights are designed to achieve this object. Right to life guaranteed in any civilised society implies the right to food, water, decent environment, education, medical care and shelter. These are basic human rights known to any civilised society.
It is the statutory obligation of the Centre and the States to provide for nutritional support to the pregnant women and lactating mothers, nutritional support to children and to take steps to identify and provide meals for children who suffer from malnutrition.
The Government has a constitutional obligation to preserve human life. Good health of its citizens is its primary duty. International covenants also aim at the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health. This is in the interest of social justice. Inadequate supply of nutritious food to the citizens, more particularly to the children and the women, shall affect their health, and would be a complete disregard of their fundamental right to health/right to live with dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
--Ishanee Sharma is an advocate and founder of Ishanee Sharma Law Offices.