Saturday, April 25, 2009

POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE RIGHT TO FOOD

Loksabha Election 2009



POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE RIGHT TO FOOD




CONGRESS' VIEWS:





NREGA:



There are plans to provide 100 days of work at a real wage of Rs 100 a day for everyone as an entitlement under the NREGA.




NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY ACT:



The Indian National Congress pledges to enact a Right to Food law that guarantees access to sufficient food for all people, particularly the most vulnerable sections of society. The Indian National Congress pledges that every family living below the poverty line either in rural or urban areas will be entitled, by law, to 25 kgs of rice or wheat per month at Rs 3 per kg. Subsidised community kitchens will be set up in all cities for homeless people and migrants with the support of the Central government.




HEALTH SECURITY:



The Indian National Congress pledges that every family living below the poverty line will be covered by the RSBY(A scheme which provides health insurance for poor fmilies) over the next three years. Every district headquarters hospital will be upgraded to provide quality heath facilities to all.




SOCIAL SECURITY:



The Indian National Congress will ensure a comprehensive cover of social security to all persons who are at special risk including (i) single-woman headed households; (ii) disabled and the elderly; (iii) urban homeless; (iv) released bonded workers; (v) members of primitive tribal groups; and (vi) members of designated "most backward" dalit communities.




BHARTIYA JANATA PARTY:




FOOD SECURITY:



The BJP promises to take the following measures:



1. Provide 35 kg of rice or wheat every month to BPL families at Rs 2 per kg under an


improved and expanded Antyodaya Anna Yojana. This will be available against 'Food


Coupons' redeemable at both PDS and private outlets.



2. Allocate more funds for expanding, universalising and improving the functioning of the Public Distribution System.



3. Preventing families from slipping below the poverty line.



4. Setting up community kitchens in extremely impoverished areas with the help of NGOs through shared funding.



5. Aggressively addressing the problem of widespread malnutrition, especially by expanding the scope of the existing mid-day meal scheme.



6. Encouraging the production of cereals and discouraging the conversion of fertile farm


land for dubious industrial projects.



7. Ensuring a sufficient level of food stocks are maintained to meet any exigencies due to


possible global food crisis which could be severely debilitating and make imports prohibitively expensive, if not impossible.



HEALTH:



1. Primary Health Centres to be linked to the National Telemedicine Service Network.



2. The current extremely low salaries of Anganwadi workers and helpers, who are the


backbone of the Integrated Child Development Scheme, will be doubled.



3. 'A Health For ALL' scheme will be launched based on a innovative insurance policy the premium of BPL families will be paid by Government. Beneficiaries will have access to Government and private hospitals for cashless treatment.



4. '108' telephone service - for medical emergencies - universally accessible throughout India in 12 months.



5. Set up a National Regulatory Authority for private hospitals, nursing homes and special care facilities to ensure quality services, affordable fees and prevent/punish malpractice. While private sector participation in health care is welcome, it cannot become a source of unrestricted and unrestrained profit-making at the expense of the people.



6. Incentives and disincentives will be introduced for State Governments to improve the quality of primary health care, maternal health care, and child health care.



7. Targets will be set for achieving significant reduction in maternal and infant mortality by improving the Janani Suraksha Yojana. The successful initiative of the BJP Government in Gujarat in this regard will be used as a model.



8.Preventive health care by way of inoculation against diseases and dissemination of information will receive focussed attention.



9.0 A national programme will be launched to vaccinate adults and children against all forms of hepatitis.



10.Substantial investment will be made in promoting Ayurved as an alternative therapy.Full support will be extended to the promotion of Unani system of medicine and homoeopathy. The promotion of Yoga will receive all Government assistance.



11. Clean drinking water is one of the best barriers against common but often fatal diseases. The BJP proposes to make access to clean drinking water a fundamental right for all citizens.



12. Implementation of of the mid day meal scheme shall be revitalised on modern management lines. Akshaya Patra Scheme will serve as the model for the purpose.



National Identity Cards for All



The BJP will launch an innovative programme to establish a countrywide system of multipurpose national identity cards so as to ensure national security, correct welfare delivery, accurate tax collection, financial inclusion and voter registration. Voter identity cards, PAN cards, passports, ration cards and BPL cards are already in use though not


all with photo identity. The NDA proposes to make it incumbent for every Indian to have a National Identity Card. The programme will be completed in three years. The National Identity Card will contain enough memory and processing capabilities to run multiple applications. Through it the NDA will ensure efficient welfare delivery and tax collection. The card will also be linked to a bank account. All welfare payments, including widow and old age pensions, through the wide range of


schemes such as Mother and Child support/ Kisan Credit, Students Assistance and Micro-Credit will be channelised through the National Identity Card. The card will make it possible for individuals to save and borrow money; for farmers to get bank credit, also establish accurate land titles data. The National Identity Card will also strengthen national security by ensuring accurate citizen identity, thus tracking illegal immigration. All financial transactions, purchase of property and access to public services will be possible only on the basis of the National Identity Card which will be made forgery and hacking resistant





NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY:




NREGA:



They insist on increasing the scope of NREGS. More work should be guaranteedand all the people prepared to work should be covered by the scheme and the wages paid to them should be reasonable increased.




SOCIAL SECURITY:




1. Time bound schemes for making drinking water, electricity should be made available to all the villages.



2. Public distribution system should be strengthened .



3. Minimum requirement of food supply should be assured through PDS outlets to all the needy irrespective of poverty line.



4. Comprehensive housing scheme for rehabilitation of all dwellers of slums, bastis and tribal colonies provided with drinking water, electricity, healthcare and education institutions should be implemented.




HEALTH:



1. A new public health policy recognizing the health rights of the people in general and the marginalized sections in particular would be introduced.



2. Primary health centres would be provided with necessary doctors, staff, medical equipments and regular medical supply.



3. Life saving medicines would be made available at affordable rates.



4. Mid day meals programme for school going children would be strengthened.



5. Comprehensive schemes to combat malnutrition among the children.



6. Food security for those belonging to the weaker sections of the society.



7. Specialty hospitals would be started in different parts of the country where medical treatment would be available at reasonable rates.





JANATA DAL(S)



HEALTH:



They plan to introduce a Comprehensive Health Card for the BPL families who will be made entitled to receive treatment including investigation, hospitalization and medicines for all diseases and in all appropriate hospitals in the country. The expenditure on such treatments will be reimbursed to the concerned hospitals by the government.




FOOD SECURITY:



Janatha Dal (Secular) party will introduce conditional direct cash income transfer scheme to the rural landless and urban BPL families on the lines of Brazil, Mexico and Chile. Specified amount of monthly income will be transferred to the women members of the BPL families with the condition that they should get their children immunised and send them to school. This new scheme will enable them to purchase whatever food articles they want. This will also prevent leakages in the distribution of food grains at subsidized price to the BPL families. It will also cover their children under universal immunization programme and will ensure school attendance instead of encouraging child labour.


A nation wide pension scheme will be launched to provide Rs 500 monthly pension to all marginal and small farmers and agricultural labourers above the age of 60 years. This will prevent hunger deaths in remote rural areas.




COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST)




FOOD SECURITY:



To ensure food security the CPI (M) advocates:



• Reintroduction of the universal PDS and abandoning the targeted PDS based on flawed poverty estimates; Provision of foodgrains at subsidized rates in the PDS



• Expansion of the Antodaya scheme to cover wider sections of the rural and urban poor; Special measures to include tribal communities in Antodaya coverage.



• Supplying 14 essential commodities including sugar, pulses and edible oils under the PDS.



• Reversing the cut in food grain allocations to the States under the PDS and giving States their full quota of grain



• Strengthening the FCI and expanding of FCI godowns, particularly in the Eastern and North Eastern regions; Curbing procurement of foodgrains by private corporates and MNCs.



•Universalizing the ICDS to cover all children in the 0 to 6 years age group; stopping privatization of the ICDS



• Providing nutritious meals to children in the anganwadis; Ensuring universal immunization.




EMPLOYMENT:



• The employment guarantee to be extended to cover all adults and for as many days as demanded; Employment guarantee to be extended tothe urban areas through the enactment of legislation



• The list of permissible works under the NREGA to be expanded to include all activities that improve the quality of life in rural areas



• Minimum wages should be ensured through fair and objective Schedule of Rates; Part of wages to be paid in subsidised foodgrains





COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA



Party will demand universal Public Distribution System (PDS) to ensure food security