The Himachal Pradesh CPM has launched a state wide campaign against the proposed food security bill which is being introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. The Party has stated the Food Security Bill will not serve the purpose of ensuring food security for all citizens.
CPM senior leader Rakesh Singha has claimed that Govt has a huge stock of 7.7 crore tones of wheat and rice in its godowns. Out of this it is only distributing around 5 crores tones and the rest is rotting in the godowns and is also being eaten by the rats. The Govt insists on keeping the bogus BPL/APL categories which divides India’s poor. Only a BPL card holder can get food grains in the ration shop at cheaper prices. Everyone knows that the rich in India do not require subsidized food grains but the govt deprives the people of India of the right to food by using fraudulent methods to define who is poor and who is not poor. It informed the Supreme Court that anyone earning more than 26 rupees a day in rural India and Rs. 32 a day in urban India cannot be considered poor and therefore cannot get food grains at subsidized rates. As a result large sections of our people are at the mercy of the high prices in the market.
The Party has stated 77 percent of the people spend only Rs 20 per day, under such grave circumstances it is criminal to create artificial categories of BPL and APL. The govt should universalize the public distribution system and provide 35 KG of food grains at not more that Rs 2 per KG every month for each family. The Party has demanded the scraping of the planning commissions bogus poverty estimates as the basis for welfare rights and schemes. The campaign will also include the demand for implementing the Swaminathan commission recommendations for a fair price and profit margin for farmers. The CPM has criticized the state Govt for the meager increase in the procurement price of apple and mangoes.
The CPM has also condemned the central Govt for increasing the prices of the fertilizers which will increase the cost of production of agriculture produce. It is shocking the price of potash have been increased by 53 percent from Rs 565 to 866 percent per bag and that of cane by 12 percent from Rs. 805 to 905 that of 12:32:16 from Rs. 820 to Rs. 1115 by 36 percent of 15:15:15 by 50 percent from Rs. 581 to Rs. 876 and that of 10:26:26 from Rs. 800 to 1095 an increase of 36 percent. The CPM has decided to mobilize thousands of party activists in a Dharna to be organized before the Parliament on 1st Aug.2012.
