Protests against WTO Restrictions on Food Subsidy: India has the Largest Number of Hungry and Malnourished People

AIKMS has stressed that today India has the largest number of hungry and malnourished people. It has 48% of the under-fives who are seriously malnourished and 56% of its childbearing age group women suffer from severe anemia. Here’s a report in Different Truths.

Led by AIKMS hundreds of poor peasants and workers protested at various blocks and tehsil HQ and raised slogans “Observe World Food Day”, “Down with WTO Restrictions on Ration”, “No Cash, Give Food”, “Give Wheat, Rise, Pulses, Oil, Sugar in Ration”, “Waive Personal Loans of Peasants and Workers”, “Give Houses to All Poor”, “Give Money to Complete House Constructions”, “People are Sick, Send Doctors to Villages”, “Stop Hunger, Give Full Ration”, “Give Work in MNREGA, Raise Wages to 500”, etc, according to a media release.

Recently Prime Minister Modi had announced implementation of DBT, cash transfer scheme, i.e., cash in place of ration to reduce government expenses. World over rich countries spend billions of dollars to keep food prices low, but India and other poor countries are being made dependent on MNC’s for food supply by reducing government food subsidy and our governments are accepting this.

This programme was held at Jasra block of Bara Tehsil, Kaundhiara block of Karchana Tehsil, Chail in Kaushambi and at Ganne village. A few years back Supreme Court had ordered an enquiry into reports of children of Ganne eating mud cakes to fill their belly and three people of one family died due to starvation as they neither got Ration nor had jobs. The government had dismissed this as sickness related deaths. People of this area have also demanded “Stone crushers be stopped, Stone Quarrying be started” and “Give land and Pattas to the poor,” the release added.

AIKMS had given a call for protests on this day to oppose WTO restrictions on food subsidy. DBT scheme will starve people, it will replace food with cash, no ration will stop government procurement and support prices which will further reduce prices of crops, it will increase the control of big traders and MNCs in grain purchase markets and it will pauperise peasants and workers. AIKMS has demanded that every family be given 50 kg food grain, 5 kg pulses, 3 kg sugar, 1 kg oil, 250-gram masala and 15 kg vegetable to secure food and stop malnutrition.