IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Roti Bhaat Satyagraha
JAN MANCH 29th November,
Dilli Chalo 29th
Dear friends,
On 29th November, a major "Jan Manch" on the National Food Security Act will be held in Delhi, with participation from all over the country. Most of the national networks represented on the steering group of the RTF campaign have already agreed to participate. Please mobilise in large numbers and join this important event. A preparatory meeting will be held on 15 November, after the weekly Satyagraha – further details of the programme will follow after that.
The weekly "Roti Bhaat Satyagraha", launched on 1 November in Delhi, is gathering steam. The Satyagraha made an upbeat start on 1 November. Members from NAPM, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan were present at the launch. A press conference was held at Jantar Mantar and the group marched towards the Parliament. They were stopped by the police, after which everyone courted arrest and 2 delegations left to submit the signed memorandum - one to PMO and the other to PC. The delgation to Planning Commission was informed that the chairperson and every one of the members was out, either abroad or another part of the country. So the memorandum could not be submitted. We were however able to submit our memo in the Prime Minister's Office.
The second Satyagraya took place on 8 November, when a contingent of NTUI activists from West Bengal (mainly women) staged a dharna outside Krishi Bhawan, demanding a universal PDS and an end to the BPL-APL division. Spirited songs, slogans and speeches went on for about an hour, when the Food Minister (KV Thomas) agreed to meet a delegation. The Minister's response to the demands was very vague – he just said that these matters were "being discussed", and that the government was for universalization "in principle", but that there were some "practical issues" (on a more positive note, he clearly said that the government was not in favour of replacing the PDS with cash transfers). After this, the demonstration proceeded to the Planning Commission, pushing back a futile police cordon. Slogans, songs and speeches continued outside the Planning Commission until everyone was bundled in a police bus and chauffeured back to Jantar Mantar. Again, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia was abroad, and most of the Planning Commission members were "out of station". Dr. Abhijit Sen, however, briefly met the Satyagrahis in Jantar Mantar, on his way to the airport.
The next satyagrahas will take place on Tuesday 15 November and Tuesday 22 November. On 15 November, children's right to food groups will be taking the lead, and on 22 November, there will be a special focus on the concerns of Adivasis.
For further help with directions please contact Mohseen (9910416153), ( 011-26499563)
Kavita Srivastava (National Convenor) on behalf of the
The Steering Committee of the Right to Food Campaign:
Annie Raja (National Federation for Indian Women), Anuradha Talwar, Gautam Modi and Madhuri Krishnaswamy(New Trade Union Initiative), Arun Gupta and Radha Holla (Breast Feeding Promotion Network of India),Arundhati Dhuru and Ulka Mahajan (National Alliance of People's Movements), Asha Mishra and Vinod Raina (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti), Aruna Roy, Anjali Bharadwaj and Nikhil Dey (National Campaign for People's Right to Information), Ashok Bharti (National Conference of Dalit Organizations), Colin Gonsalves (Human Rights Law Network), G V Ramanjaneyulu (Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture), Kavita Srivastava and Binayak Sen (People's Union for Civil Liberties), Lali Dhakar, Sarawasti Singh, Shilpa Dey and Radha Raghwal (National Forum for Single Women's Rights), Mira Shiva and Vandana Prasad (Jan Swasthya Abhiyan), Paul Divakar and Asha Kowtal (National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights), Prahlad Ray and Anand Malakar (Rashtriya Viklang Manch), Subhash Bhatnagar (National Campaign Committee for Unorganized Sector workers), Jean Dreze and V.B Rawat (Former Support group to the Campaign, Ritu Priya (JNU)
Representatives of Right to Food (State campaigns):
Veena Shatrugna, M Kodandram and Rama Melkote(Andhra Pradesh), Saito Basumaatary and Sunil Kaul (Assam), Rupesh (Bihar), Gangabhai and Sameer Garg (Chhattisgarh), Sejal Dand and Sumitra Thakkar (Gujarat), Abhay Kumar and Clifton (Karnataka), Balram, Gurjeet Singh and James Herenj (Jharkhand), Sachin Jain (Madhya Pradesh), Mukta Srivastava and Suresh Sawant (Maharashtra), Tarun Bharatiya (Meghalaya), Chingmak Chang (Nagaland) Bidyut Mohanty and Raj Kishore Mishra, Vidhya Das, Manas Ranjan (Orissa), Ashok Khandelwal, Bhanwar Singh and Vijay Lakshmi (Rajasthan), V Suresh (Tamil Nadu), Arundhati Dhuru and Bindu Singh (Uttar Pradesh),
c/o PHRN, 5-a Jungi House, Shahpur Jat. N Delhi
Email Address: righttofood@gmail.com, kavisriv@gmail.com;
Phone no. Jaipur: 0141-2594131, mobile: 9351562965
Delhi : 011-26499563, 9910416153
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