Role of Civil Society Organisations in the Implementation of National Food Security

Act, 2013

Organised by

Centre for Child and the Law (CCL), NLSIU, Banglore

In Collaboration with

Jharkhand State Food Commission, Ranchi

Date: 26th July, 2019

Venue: Nepal House Ranchi

Brief

The purpose of the workshop organised by CCL, NLSIU, Bangalore in collaboration with
Jharkhand State Food Commission, Ranchi is to throw light on the weakness of NFSA
Act, the gaps in its implementation, issues and challenges it poses in view of the rules and
guidelines of Jharkhand. The agenda put forward for the workshop was to explore ways
for better execution and implementation of the laws in the state and to essentially
understand the role of each department and specific schemes meant to combat
malnutrition.

Inaugural Session

The inaugural ceremony of the work shop was started by Shri Haldhar Mahto, Member,
Jharkhand State Food Commission, where he gave a brief introduction about the
workshop.

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Session-I

This session was chaired by Dr. Neetu Sharma, Centre for Child and the Law, NLSIU
who elaborated the concept of Right to Food and Food Security. According to her, if
Right to food is a right in itself, then it must include various other rights too. According
to an official data, Around 20 people have died until June due to hunger. It is sad to know
that a state which is enriched with metals and minerals is facing difficulty in preventing
starvation death. It is important to understand that National Food Security Act is a right
bestowed and not mere benefit.

Dr. Neetu Sharma elaborately discussed about interpretation of “Right to Food” in terms
of food grains from ration shops, MDMS, amount of calories or having a law on security
of food security. The discussion progressed with brief discussion about food security,
malnutrition, food sovereignty, hunger and starvation. It is important for the stake holders
to effectively use food security act and analyse the existing loopholes to address it.

Components of food security include physical, economic and social access to adequate
food that too in all times and with dignity. Food security includes availability, access
adequacy, continuity, dignity and most importantly water which forms an integral part of
food security. The concept followed for right to adequate food is termed as
“P.A.N.T.H.E.R”, where P is for participation, A for Accountability, N for Non-
Discrimination, T for Transparency, H for Human Dignity, E for Empowerment and R
stands for Rule of Law. Every single principle of PANTHER is essential to be applied on
ground level to establish effective Right to Food. It is very vital to understand that there
should be no discrimination is access to benefits to government schemes and Food
Security Act. The session moved forward to understand the reason behind Food
insecurity and its direct effect on those in need of such benefits. Regional disparities,
inequalities, deprivation, fluctuation in labour market etc leads to the problem of acute
hunger and chronic starvation. It is important to dive deep in policy level and understand
that water, education, skill development etc directly effects the Right to Food, making
this a group of rights and not mere individual in nature.

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Few important questions were raised during the discussion. Why people are dying of
hunger and starvation, children are critically malnourished which is at all time high
(either it is stagnated or inflated) and why are we unable to achieve Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG’s) when our per capita production has evidently increased?

The condition of India is not appreciable among developing countries in terms of hunger.
There is an overall increase in number of hungry people worldwide and India is
unfortunately slipping down. One of the major problems is population in Asia where
large number of people are undernourished. India’s rank in Global Hunger Index is
sliding down and dropping since 2014. India ranked 108th in 2018, which is very
unfortunate as India has been emerging as one of the fastest developing nations
worldwide.

Dr. Neetu further explained the GHI composition which includes 3 dimensions and 4
indicators. The 3 dimensions being ”Inadequate Food Supply (1/3rd)”, “Child
Mortality(1/3rd)” and “Child Under-nutrition(1/3rd).” The 4 indicators are Under-
nourishment, Under Five Mortality Rate, Wasting and Stunting. If we look in India,
almost 40% of children below 5 are stunted, 30% are underweight and Under 5 mortality
is 48 children per thousand. Moreover, Global Nutrition Report ranks India 170th among
185 countries.

In Jharkhand, 45.3% of children under 5 years are stunted, 29% of children under 5 years
are wasted, 47.8% of children under 5 years are underweight, 69.9% of children aged
between 6-59 months are anaemic, 62.6% of pregnant women from 15 to 49 years of age
are anaemic and 65.2% of all women aged between 15 to 49 years are anaemic.

The approach and vision of National Nutrition Policy, 1993 was discussed in terms of
nature of nutrition and food security, identification of close linkages between agriculture,
food production and nutrition and connecting it to poverty, unemployment, lack of access
to food and under-development. The 1993 policy was a step forward towards food rights
and security. It took 20 years for the legislation to come up with something as National
Food Security Act. Prima Facie Right to Food appears to be a part of Article 21 but in a
PUCL v. UOI case, the Honourable Supreme Court of India excluded Right to Food from

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 the ambit of Article 21, Right to Life. But interestingly, Articles 39 and 47 of the
Directive Principles of State Policy talks about health and duty of the state to raise the
level of nutrition. So it is important for the State and Judiciary to understand that only by
making Right to food a right under Right to Life, the state can ensure effective
implementation of its policies, schemes and statutes, and also to achieve the objectives of
D.P.S.P’s.

The National Nutrition Policy, 1993 envisaged certain direct and indirect steps to achieve
the objectives.

Direct Indirect

 Nutrition interventions for vulnerable  Food availability/security

groups  Diversification
 Expansion of safety nets  Land reforms
 Reaching out to adolescent girls  Nutrition surveillance
 Preventing low birth weights  Equal wages
 Control of micronutrient deficiencies  Women empowerment
among vulnerable groups  Minimum wage administration
 Fortification of essential foods.  Community participation
 Awareness and communication

The National Food Security Act, 2013 was then seen a statutory answer to implement the
policies and enhance the 1993 policy. The objective of the Act is to ensure food and nutrition
security to all in human life cycle approach. It converted elements of some schemes into legal
entitlements for children, women and targeted population. It envisaged the provision of Food
Security Allowance, monitoring mechanisms, three-tier grievance redressal mechanism including
the SFCs and inculcated certain objectives to be progressively realised (in Schedule III).

The NFSA is no doubt an effort forward towards Right to Food and food security but it does
have some impediments towards practical and on-ground implementations. The issues with
NFSA are narrow understanding of food security, the act deals only with distribution of food,
lopsided approach to food and nutrition security, responsibility of implementation lying with

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state government, dilutes states’ efforts in securing food security and implementation issues. The
issues were thoroughly analysed and discussed by the chair, key speakers and various on-ground
volunteers from various NGO’s/SCO’s.

There was disappointment expressed over certain provisions which were not made legally
enforceable rights and were not implemented by the Act. It was unanimously agreed that
necessary research should be undertaken and field workers of various NGO’s/SCO’s should be
involved in giving inputs regarding impediments of on-ground implementation of the Act and the
ways to make it more effective. The NGO’s/CSO’s can play a very vital role in addressing the
problems related to food security as after all they are the only ones to work on grass root level
and observe the condition closely.

The Session concluded with certain questions being raised from NGO’s which was elaborately
answered by the members of Jharkhand State Food Commission.

Question 1: How to control and manage shopkeepers who commit fraud by giving a month’s
ration at the end of two months?

Answer: It is the liability of the shopkeeper to provide for monthly ration to the beneficiaries. A
beneficiary can pick up the ration of two months at once if he failed to procure the ration of
previous months due to any reason. It is a right and not mere benefit. Any non-compliance could
be easily reported through the toll free number provided by the commission. Moreover, there are
members of “Panchayat Nigrani Samiti” who can be approached in case of such anomalies. (The
Commission also requested the NGO’s to spread awareness among people about their rights.)

Question 2: If the allotted benefit is not received by a woman in Anganwadi, will she be
compensated?

Answer: Yes; The price of allotted materials (food, medicines etc) are mentioned in
Aanganwadis but not mentioned in the rule so minimum entitlement is considered and given to
the beneficiary within 30 days.

Question 3: What is the allotment according to Gulabi Ration Card?

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Answer: Every name mentioned in Gulabi Ration Card is entitled to 5 Kilograms of ration to
each entries of card at the rate of Re. 1 per Kg. If there are 12 persons registered in a card, then
each 12 person is entitled to 5 Kilo at Re. 1 per Kg. In case of any discrepancy, immediate
complaint must be made. It should be kept in mind that the complaint should be very specific and
contain necessary details so as proper actions could be taken. NGO’s should act as a medium
between the people and the Commission.

The Session was finally concluded.

Session II

Entitlements and Welfare Provisions under NFSA, 2013 in Jharkhand (Introduction,

Beneficiaries, Entitlements, MDMS, Role of Institution, Welfare Provisions)

a) Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) & MBS

b) Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)
c) Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)

This Session was chaired by Shri Sudhir Prasad, Chairman, the Jharkhand State food
Commission along with three key speakers namely: -

1. Dr. (Smt.) Ranjana Kumari, Member, The Jharkhand State food Commission
2. Shri HaldharMahto, Member, The Jharkhand State food Commission
3. Shri Upendra Narayan Oraon, Member, The Jharkhand State food Commission

Dr. (Smt.) Ranjana Kumari discussed about Integrated Child Development Scheme & MBS
and how NFSA, 2013 operates in field of women empowerment and child development. The
speaker further discussed about Section 4, 5, 6 of NFSA, 2013 which talks about nutritional
support to pregnant women, lactation mothers, children up to age of 6 year and prevention and
management of child malnutrition as the function of local Anganwadi. In this way the nutritional
life cycle approach of female from infancy to old age was focused by the speaker. The speaker
further threw light on the importance of Malnutrition Treatment Centre and Home-based
treatment, if a malnourished child unable to come to the centre he can avail the home-based
treatment facility. The speaker concluded her session by sharing her valuable input on Pradhan
Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) which is a maternity benefit program run by the

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Government of India. The beneficiary of this scheme are pregnant women and lactating mothers.
They are entitled to a maternity benefit of not less than Six thousand rupees during pregnancy
and six months after the childbirth.

Shri HaldharMahto discussed about Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) as mentioned in

Section 5(1)(a) of NFSA, 2013. Every child in the age group of 6 months to 6 years shall be
provided appropriate meal free of charge through the local Anganwadi so as to meet the
nutritional standard specified in schedule 2 of NFSA, 2013. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is a
school meal programme of the Govt. of India designed to better the nutritional standard of the
school age children national wide. In the Scheme every child between the age of 6 to 14 years is
entitled to one mid-day meal free of charge every day in all schools run by local bodies,
Government and Government aided schools to meet the nutritional standard of the children. In
case, if the mid-day meal is not provided continuously for three days or not less than 5 days in a
month then such children shall be entitled to such food security allowance till fifteenth of the
next month.

Shri Upendra Narayan Oraon talked about the implementation and the working of the
Targeted Public Distribution System. The ration of a month can be procured by the
beneficiaries at any time within that month and till the last date of the next month. If the
beneficiary faces any problem in the procurement of the ration under the Targeted Public
Distribution System, he can file a complaint on toll free number.

Shri Subhir Prasad, chairman of The Jharkhand State Food Commission talked about how food
commission is weak organization and totally dependent on the state for funds. Further the
speaker discussed about how Electricity Department which is comparatively less important for
welfare of the society than food commission has more power than food commission. Electricity
Department is an independent body whereas food commission is only a regulator. The food
commission doesn’t have proper fund like other organizations which makes it difficult for the
effective working of the commission. The food commission also does not have power to make
the rules and regulations. According to statistics there are 44,000 Anganwadi, 40,000 Schools
and 25,000 Public Distribution shops in Jharkhand. The commission is too small to handle such a
large domain of work. Consumer Protection Act, 1986 has independent forum on district level
but the food commission has no such provision of local authorities. All the work is done by the

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upper authorities which faces the lack of time. The speaker also asserted that most of the time the
State rejects the suggestions of the food commission.

The speaker concluded his session with a few suggestions and expectations to the NGOs and
individuals present such as: -

 Be representative of AYOG at Panchayat/Ward level

 Adopt some Panchayat/Ward
 What will be your terms and conditions?
 Proposal within a month
 Some innovative ideas for the implementation of ICDS, MDS, PDS, PMMVY
 Man of the year award by AYOG

The following questions were raised and clarified after session 2 such as

Question1. Is there any officer at ZilaParishad level to create awareness among people and
beneficiaries or amaterial regarding the same?

Answer: This conference itself is a way to create awareness among NGOs and other ground
staffs who can act as medium between the people and commission. The NGOs should actively
create awareness and the necessary materials and information are exclusively mentioned at the
website of the commission.

Question 2.Is there any provision for a person living in a far away district to register a complaint
in their district?

Answer: If a person is from Garhwa he does not need to come to Ranchi. Actions and proceeding
would take place in Pragya Kendra itself and the member of the Pragya Kendra will be called if
found necessary

Question 3. What are the provisions of security allowance in Anganwadi and MDMs?

Answer: There are 2 security allowances entitled for which the report is being asked within 30
days.

The Session was finally concluded.

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Session III

Monitoring Mechanism under NFSA in Jharkhand

In this session the speakers discussed about how the social auditing and the community
monitoring mechanism works in Jharkhand by the application of Section- 27, 28 and 29. Section
27 talks about all the records related to PDS system shall be placed in the public domain and kept
open for inspection to the public. According to section 28, any authority which has been
authorised by the state government will conduct periodic social audits on the functioning of fair
price shops, targeted Public Distribution System and other welfare schemes. Further a point was
put forward by the speakers that more focus should be given on MDMS rather than PDS and
ICDS. The role of vigilance committee to ensure transparency and proper functioning of the
targeted Public Distribution System was explained through Section 29 of NFSA, 2013.

Session IV

Grievance Redressal Mechanism under NFSA in Jharkhand

This session was chaired by Shri Balram, Right to Food Campaign, Jharkhand along with three
other speakers namely Shri James Herenj (Social Activist, Right to Food Campaign), Shri
Jawahar Mehta (Social Activist, Right to Food Campaign) and Shri Vishnu Rajgariya, Director,
Jharkhand Foundation.

In the session the speakers talked about grievance redressal mechanism established in Jharkhand
by the application of Section 14, 15,16 of NFSA, 2013. In furtherance to Section 16 Of NFSA,
2013 State Food Commission has been established in Jharkhand. Further with the application of
Section 14, 15 of NFSA toll free no., WhatsApp, online complain system has been set up and the
AC has been nominated as DGRO.

Food Security Allowance Rule, 2015 was further discussed by the speakers. To sum up in a few
points:

1) Payment of food security in cases of non-supply of food grain -Section4

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 a) Each PDS shop will be verified at the end of every month and for getting status by nodal
officer.
b) The nodal officer shall record in writing the reason for non-supply of food grain to any
entitled person.
c) The nodal officer shall ensure payment of food security allowance.
d) The nodal officer will register the complain with the DGRO against the dealer.

2) Compensation of food security allowance- Section- 6,7

a) computed by multiplying the difference by 1.25 between the minimum support prices of
relevant food grain and scheduled price.
b) Food Security allowances will be paid through the bank account.

Role of State Food Commission:

1. To monitor and to evaluate the implementation of NFSA.

2. Either Suo moto or on receipt of complaint enquire into violation of entitlement.
3. To give advice to state government and its agencies on effective implementation of the
act.
4. To hear appeal against the order of DGRO.
5. To prepare annual report that shall be laid before the legislator.

Role of DGRO

1. Expeditious and effective grievance redressal of the grievance of the aggrieved persons.

Role of local governance(PRI, SMC)

1. Regular monitoring and reporting to the DGRO (Section-7 under Central mid-day meal
rule, 2015)

Concluding the session, the speakers enlightened the session by giving a presentation on how to
file a complaint in a proper way. If the complaint is not heard by the DGRO, the aggrieved
person can file appeal to the State Food Commission either online or in person.

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Session V

Session V included the formation of four groups for a group discussion on the following topics:

a. Role of NGO’s/CSO’s in effective implementation of NFSA

b. Challenges observed in implementation of NFSA
c. Expectations from the State Food Commission
d. Plan of Action and Way Forward

Session VI

The group discussion was facilitated by Dr. K. Syamala, Associate Professor and Director of
Research, National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi. The discussions in every
group were co-ordinated by second year law students from NUSRL, Ranchi. Every group
discussed on all the four topics and laid down their points and conclusions from a healthy and
effective GD.

The following points were discussed by the entire four group and they all came up with unique
suggestions for improvements and expectations which are cumulatively mentioned under
following topics:

1. Role of NGOs/CSOs in effective implementation of NFSA

 Capacity and Awareness building in ICDS and MDMS for both the stake holders
and beneficiaries.
 Creating awareness at grass root level.
 NGOs should act as medium between the people and the commission and
authorities in registration of complaints and grievances.
 NGOs/CSOs should be instrumental in providing assistance to the beneficiaries.
 There should be collective effort by NGOs towards a common goal.
 Panchayati Raj should be strengthened for monitoring of effective implementation
of the Act.
 To follow up grievances and ensure timely redressal.

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2. Challenges observed in implementation of NFSA
 There is lack of awareness not only among people but also among NGOs
regarding NFSA and its importance.
 There are challenges in registration of complaints and not many people are well
versed with internet and usage of toll free number system.
 There is lack of awareness regarding Rights guaranteed by NFSA as people still
consider it as benefit.
 People are reluctant to file a complaint fearing retributive actions towards the
complainant by the person against whom complaint is filed. For instance, people
fear losing benefits of Gulabi Ration Card benefits.
 Lack of effective monitoring and redressal committee.
 Lack of quality staff and human resource.
 Implementing agencies are not working properly, they lack efficiency.
 State Food Commission due to lack of powers fails to act as stronger instrument.
3. Expectations from the State Food Commission
 Safeguard of victims.
 Faster and effective redressal of complaints.
 Recognition of NGOs and volunteers by State Food Commission.
 State food commission should be active in spreading awareness about itself, its
duties and responsibilities to every stake holder and beneficiaries.
 Commission should be self financially managed.
 Certain identified NGOs should be assisted financially to promote the work of
Commission and realise the objective of NFSA.
 State Food Commission should set up a vigilante committee to keep check on
deterring practices and officers.
4. Plan of Action and Way Forward
 Software Integration should be the very first step towards the achievement of
goal.
 The focus should be on improving the quality of staffs and Human Resource.

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  Recruitment and Allotment must be made according to qualification and needs
respectively.
 Commission should consist of people from various fields who have an experience
of work at grass root level.
 Role of Awareness should be understood and given special attention and vigilante
monitoring of inputs of supply, distribution and transaction should be done by the
Commission.
 It is very important to promote the Commission and make it more independent
and self-sufficient.
 Co-ordination of various organizations should be strengthened.

Thus, the Group discussion was quite helpful in bringing up the key issues and expectations
related to the Food Security Act, its implementation and effectiveness and most importantly, the
areas of improvement.

Session VII

Session VII included presentations by every group in context to their outcomes from discussion
on the four topics. This session helped to facilitate views of one group to be shared by other. The
format was quite appreciated and some very good points came out of it.

Session VIII

This workshop proved to be an eye opener for most of the NGOs and volunteers who were
unaware of the NFSA and importance of State Food Commission. Members from various
NGOs/CSOs got a good opportunity to interact with each other and the State Food Commission,
raise their issues, doubts and seek direction from the Commission towards sharpening the vision
of their good work. NGOs were quite appreciative of the workshop and looked forward for
regular meetings, conferences and workshop to train them regularly in this field. This was also
seen as a medium to stay in touch with the Commission and work in co-ordination.

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Session VIII

Vote of Thanks by Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Member, The Jharkhand State Food Commission. The
Rapporteuring of the entire workshop was done by 2nd year students of NUSRL, Ranchi.

Mehul Mayank
Yash Srivastava
Ashvani Sharma
Abhijeet Anand

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