A social activist who worked all his life for weaker sections, Gopal is now 85 years old and is generally addressed as Pita ji by the younger generation of artists and activists. Gopal grew up as a child in Bigahna village which is known for some of its simple, small farmers being accomplished dhrupad singers. They would cultivate their fields in the daytime and gather in the evening for music. These singers include Rambahori, Parasram, Kamta Prasad and Ramvjay.

This news had attracted a lot of attention when broadcast on radio some decades back. Gopal, growing up in this village in the company of such accomplished singers, had a strong feeling that there isn’t such a wide gap or barrier between classical and folk music as is often taken for granted. This was confirmed by later experiences. A famous dhrupad singer told a folk singer from a tribal community who had just given a great performance at a Lok Laya festival — It is your singing of old days to which we trace origin of our own music.

As Gopal had been working among the weakest sections on land, justice and related issues, he soon realized that very rich folk song and dance forms exist among the weaker sections of society, including the tribal communities and dalits of Bundelkhand region. However when he tried to reach out to them, he found that they were so poor that it would be unfair to ask them to come to any performing centre without arranging for their travel.

Hence he started looking for donors who could pay the travel and other expenses plus a modest honorarium. After this the Lok Laya festival started and nine such festivals have been held so far in the campus of this organization in Chitrakut district (Uttar Pradesh).

However, the difficulties in which many artists continue to live has become an increasing concern and Gopal has been pleading with the government to take more steps for ensuring livelihood support to these artists based on their valuable arts and skills.

Ramjivan’s parents worked as bonded labourers in Bharkhari village of Hamirpur district (UP). When he was in class four he was forced by his parents’ employers to take their cattle for grazing. As he grew up, he spent his nights learning nautanki songs and Raawla dance. In a few years by sheer dedication and hard work he emerged as one of the most accomplished folk artists of the area famous for his tamboora singing and kabiri. Yet he continued to grapple with poverty and survival.

Naurangilal, born in a family of traditional sanitation workers, experienced extreme forms of untouchability and other humiliations from early childhood in Bakurkhurd village (Hamirpur district). A more interesting part of his father’s traditional professional was to play various instruments at weddings. Naurangilal was fascinated by this and he soon became an accomplished player of dafla.

What is common to both these folk artists is that they got enthusiastic response at Lok Laya (which literally means Rhythm of People).

Gopal travelled far and wide in rural areas to establish contacts with such unknown folk artists of great skills and accomplishments. He collected books and documents on folk arts and also established contacts with various scholars who were working as this issue.

What Gopal found in the course of this huge effort was that many accomplished folk artists are living in great economic difficulties. Families of several of them could not get two square meals a day and they had to toil as migrant workers to survive. In such a situation there was little incentive to hand over their skills to the next generation.

On the other hand, Gopal says that he also comes across cases of resilience and strength of folk arts and artists to survive against heavy odds, thanks mainly to their integration with the social fabric of villages. This effort was being supported by persons like Dr Ram Bhajan in Hamirpur district who left his job to help folk artists of Vinvaar and neighbouring villages in the revival of folk arts.

Efforts of Krishna Mohan Saxena and Vijay Srivastava helped Nautanki artists in and around Banda district, scholars like Dr Veena Srivastava, Dr Madhu Shukla and Ayodhya Kumud were helping to document important aspects of Bundelkhand’s folk arts in their research work and books. Social programs like PACS, organizations like PRIA and Sahbhagi have also donated for this cause from time to time.

These festivals were well-covered by local media and helped to generate a region-wide interest in the protection and strengthening of folk arts.

At a typical Lok Laya festival the beauty and vitality of folk-arts is very much in evidence. The presentations of occupational and caste-groups such as dhobis (washerfolk), Kahars (water-providers), kumhars (potters) and kachis (vegetable growers) were widely appreciated. As Lallu Ram Shukla of Music Dept. of Chitrakut University explained, these attract audience of the entire village community and such performances which continue all night help to strengthen the social fabric of rural life.

Even more lively were the presentations of ‘Rai’ and ‘Kolhai’ folk arts by Kol tribal artists. A new generation of Kol women like Booti Kol have left behind the cruel legacy of bonded labour to emerge as panchayat leaders and in addition they are very good folk artists.

Dr Ram Bhajan has explained that talented women artists who inherit and develop great skills in their maternal homes are often discouraged from performing after their marriage.They and their families should be approached and encouraged to develop the talent further. He gave the example of Siyapyari Ahirwar who has emerged as one of the most celebrated artists after efforts to re-discover and encourage her talent were made.

Dr Veena Srivastava has pointed out that several folk artists of Bundelkhand have a special talent for combining singing, dancing and playing an instrument at the same time.

Dr Madhu Shukla has said that even the modest amounts sanctioned for folk artists generally fail to reach the truly deserving artists. She stated at a Lok Laya function that performers such as those seen at Lok Laya are true folk artists, but clever urban artists just take a few tips from them to emerge as more popular figures at urban stage and also corner more funds and fame.

Gopal has stated that the existing disbursal of funds for folk arts needs to be carefully re-examined so that complete transparency and honesty along with the right priorities can be ensured. He has made a strong plea for the government giving much more attention to the protection of folk arts and artists.

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include “Hindi Cinema and Society”, “Man over Machine” and “When the Two Streams Met”

Courtesy: CounterView

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The Ken river deserves special attention among the various tributaries of the river Yamuna that deserves very urgent attention regarding protective measures.

Ken River, lifeline of Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh, is badly threatened at present by sand mining and its future is threatened by new emerging factors which need more careful attention instead of allowing very costly mistakes to be made. In addition there is also the problem of pollution.

Sand mining has been taking place in the Ken river at much beyond sustainable levels. Almost all the rules and precautions of safer mining have been violated with ruthlessness and those who question or challenge this have been threatened.

While small-scale mining carried out manually with care for river protection may not cause much harm to the ecology what has happened in reality is that very large-scale and indiscriminate mining is done using heavy machinery. Instead of confining to river-bank or flood-plain area the heavy machinery digs deep into the river-bed and for this temporary bund-making is done to check the flow of water.

This has several impacts which can deplete the water in the dry season while at the same time increasing the threat of erosion and floods at the time of rains. The capacity of the river to absorb and retain water and also to link with the groundwater aquifers and to replenish them when these need water is adversely affected.

The increasing turbidity created by machinery, bunds , removal of sediments are all bad for diversity of aquatic life and fish as well as other species may perish in large numbers or suffer a gradual decline. Needless to add the satisfaction of the water needs of human beings, farm and domesticated animals as well as wild life around the vast area around river banks is also adversely affected.

This is particularly true of Bundelkhand region where the number of stray cattle is very high and for them dependence on river water for quenching their thirst can be very high. If river is badly depleted in the pre-monsoon summer months then this can be disastrous for a large number of stray animals, while at the same time difficulties for farm and dairy animals also increase.

Reports are already available of a large number of animals in this region dying due to water shortage and acute thirst in drought years and summer months of intense heat.
Hence it is important to take steps to check highly destructive sand mining on Ken river. Very powerful mafias are active in this mining work who use massive corruption as well as threats to go on violating existing rules and even law court directives.

While some mining leases may be obtained legally but at the same time a lot of illegal mining is also done and the truckloads of sand carried away is much in excess of any sustainability norms. Hence the Ken river is badly threatened today.

While highly destructive sand mining is taking place in several stretches of Ken river, matters came to a head recently in a river-bank village called Kolawalpur Raipur (located in Mahuwa block of Banda district).

On the one hand the river was being damaged very badly by mining carried out on a very large scale using heavy machines, on the other hand wages of several workers were not paid and compensatory payments were not made to farmers whose fields were converted to roads for the trucks carting sand away from the river-site.

Villagers presented a mix of demands which combined curbs on destructive mining practices with payment of proper wages to workers and compensation payment to farmers. Heavy mechanization was opposed and there was a demand to change the mining methods so that river is better protected and at the same time workers using manual methods get more employment.

When their demands were not accepted and the local police sided blatantly with the mining mafia and threatened the peaceful movement, villagers gathered at the river bank.

A leading role was played by women. Several of them entered the river-water and stayed there for a long time shouting slogans and offering prayers , asserting their determination to protect the river.

Later when the protesters moved towards the road people of other nearby villages joined them. The fear of a fast growing protest led at last to rapid action on the part of the authorities and most of the demands of this jal satyagraha were accepted.

However this was only a success at one mining site as indiscriminate heavy mining continued at several other sites. Wider efforts are certainly needed to protect and save this river.

Heavy mechanization was opposed and there was a demand to change the mining methods so that river is better protected

Last but certainly not the least there is the increasing possibility of water depletion during the lean season and this can reach alarming levels once the plans being made to withdraw a lot of its water reach a final stage. The serious depletion of water during the dry and lean season that can be already seen has been caused by reckless sand mining and deforestation of catchment areas.

This can be seen in the context of not just the main river but also its tributaries like Ranj and Gharar which have dried up to a larger extent. Hence the water availability for farmers and vegetable growers who depend on the Ken and its tributaries and canals has been already adversely affected at a time when water is badly needed for farming.

Despite this, however, there are ongoing plans to withdraw huge quantities of water from the Ken river to the Betwa river under the Ken-Betwa river link scheme, using a 230 km long canal. Either such water just may not be available, or if still effort to transfer from Ken is made then surely the Ken river lean flow is likely to be further affected adversely and like its tributaries the main river too may dry up in certain stretches during the dry season.

What an important study titled ‘Strategies for Water and Food Security in Bundelkhand in the face of Climate Change’ by Prof. Brij Gopal, Prof Dinesh K Marothia and Prof Bhartendu Prakash (2017) has stated in this context is very relevant:

“Ironically, the Ken-Betwa Link project is being promoted to provide irrigation and drinking water to some parts of Bundelkhand, without realizing the gravity of the situation that the river Ken which is assumed to have ‘surplus’ flow, had gone bone dry for two years for most of its reaches except the deep rocky pools.

“And, if that is not sufficient ground to think over the management strategy, the project is designed to create a 78 m deep reservoir with a submergence area of over 100 sq km of Panna’s dense and biodiversity rich forest (estimate more than 2.3 million trees with a girth of more than 20 cm)… Finally, the river may not have enough water to feed the link canal system if the projections of climate change also become reality.”

If very less water is available in the river and its canal system, then this will have a very adverse impact on farming and a very large number of farmers and vegetable growers, including those who specialize in growing crops like watermelons and musk melons on the river-bank, will be affected very badly.

The same study has stated, summarizing the research of several experts:

“Analysis of trends of rainfall over the past more than a century shows that in Ken river basin the frequency of droughts has doubled whereas the total annual rainfall is declining.”
In such conditions to continue large-scale mining and to plan for transfer of its water to another river is surely going to have very disturbing and disruptive impacts for environment as well as livelihoods,. One can imagine the very harmful impact on fish and other river-life if and when the river goes dry for several stretches.

Hence urgent steps to protect the Ken river are needed on urgent basis and a strong public campaign for this is also needed.

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include “Planet in Peril”, “Protecting Earth for Children” and “A Day in 2071”

Courtesy: https://www.counterview.net

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Polls are scheduled to take place in Jhansi on February 20, and just a week before that farmers’ umbrella body Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) visited the region in Uttar Pradesh on February 13, 2022 to ask citizens to “punish” the ruling party for farmer grievances.

During a press conference, SKM leaders spoke about the anger in the farming community regarding the recent bail of Lakhimpur Kheri accused Ashish Mishra. Mishra and his accomplices were accused of mowing down peacefully protesting farmers in Tikonia village of Kheri district. As per an SIT report, the incident was not a chance happening but a planned conspiracy. Therefore, farmers had added the sacking of Ashish’s father Union Minister Ajay Mishra from the Cabinet to their list of demands. However, this demand was not addressed by the central government in previous talks.

“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath threatened farmers by talking about cooling the heat and now has done the work of sprinkling salt on the wounds of farmers by giving bail to Mishra,” said SKM leader Hannan Mollah during the conference.

Similarly, the other seven-member committee members, namely – Yogendra Yadav, Shivkumar Sharma (Kakka), Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) State President Rajveer Singh Jadon, Bundelkhand Farmers Union (BFU) President Vimal Sharma and Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (KSS) President Dr Sunilam, voiced the need to “defeat” the BJP to keep the contentious farm laws from being reintroduced.

Leaders said the BJP-government failed on its written agreement drafted on December 9, 2021 regarding MSP, Compensation to farmers and other demands. As many as 550 farmers organisations across India condemned this failure on January 31 during the ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’. The Mission UP launched in the state is similarly meant to inform people about this news. For this, around 50 farmer organisations in UP have begun village-level meetings to ask people to “remove the anti-farmer BJP”. Accordingly, farmers went over the promises made to farmers in the 2022 BJP manifesto and said that the assurances are the same as the ones made in 2017. However, even after five years, the party has only repeated these promises in its ‘Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra’.

Describing the BJP manifesto as a bundle of lies, leaders asked about the purchase of paddy at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the procurement of potatoes, onions. During the last five years, less than a third of the paddy production was procured by the government. The situation in wheat was even worse and less than one bag was procured in six bags of production, said farmers.

“Facing famine, migration in Bundelkhand, farmers also did not get MSP of pulses and oilseeds,” said Sharma.

Similarly, there has been no progress on the Ken-Betwa river link project under the National Perspective Plan. The project would have transferred the water from Betwa river in UP to the drought-prone Bundelkhand region, including Jhansi. However, the project requiring ₹ 45,000 cr had not made any progress although all irrigation projects in and around Jhansi were stopped.

As for promises of free electricity for irrigation, farmer leaders said that this was another reused assurance from the 2017 manifesto where the party resolved to arrange for adequate electricity to all fields at low rates.

“In the last five years, there was not enough electricity. The rates increased from above. UP’s electricity rates are the highest in India,” said Jadon.

He said that the Yogi-led government increased the rate of rural metered electricity from ₹ 1 per unit to ₹ 2 per unit from farmers for tube wells. There was an unexpected increase in the fixed charge from ₹ 30 to ₹ 70. Charges for unmetered connections increased from ₹ 100 to ₹ 170.

Leaders said that farmers – who were forced to stay awake all night to save their crops from stray animals – will vote to teach a lesson to the BJP.

Related:

Lakhimpur Kheri case: Farmers remain enraged by Mishra’s bail

Lakhimpur Kheri case: Ashish Mishra gets bail!

SKM denounces BJP manifesto

Are Christians being targetted in Uttar Pradesh with the blessings of the regime?

Western UP: Are Jat farmers losing faith in the BJP?

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The village panchayat is reported to have issued a brutal diktat that eventually led to the man being killed. First there were the ‘purification rituals’ that he was forced to undergo: forcibly made to travel to the ‘Sangam’ (of the Ganga and Jamuna) at Allahabad; tonsure his head, compelled to organise two community meals and charged a fine of Rs 500.

It was on December 9, that the calf of a cow was found dead on his farm with an empty bottle of rat poison lying nearby. The panchayat is said to have summoned Lodhi and asked him to atone for his "sin" of allegedly leaving a bottle of poison open.

Lodhi's son Dariyab claimed his father had to undergo a series of "purification" rituals. "First, he had to travel to Allahabad to take a holy dip at Sangam and tonsure his head. When he returned, he organised two community meals and paid a fine of Rs 500," Dariyab said, accusing three panchayat men of ordering further "punishment".

Two days ago, Karan Lodhi, Gondi Lodhi and Mardan reportedly asked the farmer to stand on one leg. Dariyab said he repeatedly pleaded with the three men to reduce the punishment but was overruled.

"My father was himself keen to undertake the punishment as he had been feeling low since the calf died. After three hours of suffering and constantly changing legs, he fainted. He was taken to hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival," Dariyab said.

Sub-inspector Pradip Saraf who is investigating the case, said a complaint had been lodged against unknown persons under Section 174 of the CrPC (death under circumstances raising a reasonable suspicion).

Dariyab's statement has been recorded. Once the autopsy report is out, action will be taken against those found responsible for the death, Saraf said.

Dariyab said village elders, who traditionally raise cows and trade in dairy products, had summoned the caste panchayat. It reportedly held the farmer responsible for the calf's death and directed him to take a "prayaschit snan" (bath for atonement), tonsure his head and host a lunch for community members.

Abiding by the diktat, the farmer went to Allahabad on December 13 with Dariyab and hosted two meals for villagers. "Although we thought that the matter was over, the three men of the Lodhi clan ordered further punishment which caused his death," Dairyab alleged.
 
The cause of Har Singh Lodhi's death, in Bada Malhera village of Chhattarpur district two days ago, is yet to be established. "We have registered a case and ordered a post-mortem," inspector Dharamjit Singh Patel said.
 

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Bundelkhand   Image: ndtv.com

Two kilograms of daal per household per month must be provided to every household for the drought-affected period by the Central/State governments as daal is a principle source of high and yet daal consumption has been reducing and is worse in this drought affected year that has severely impacted on hunger. The Tamil Nadu pattern of distributing daal at Rs 30 per kilogram is a feasible one.
 
Besides, eggs (or milk) need to be urgently provided within the Mid-Day Meal Schemes to school going children especially in drought-affected areas. Where milk is in short supply one egg per child is mandatory. These are some among a list of critical suggestions made by the Swaraj Abhiyan in its Written Arguments filed before the Supreme Cort today, January 29. The Abhiyan had filed a detailed petition before the supreme court praying for an enforcement of the National Food security Act, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) especially in drought affected areas of the country. The petition and the written arguments can be read here. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan and academic-activist Yogendra Yadav have formed and led the Swaraj Abhiyan.
 
Twelve states in the country including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha are drought affected; however while all these declared their states as drought-affected between September and October 2015, the notable exceptions were Gujarat, Bihar and Haryana.
 
The Swaraj Abhiyan conducted an intense survey of Bundelkhand district in October 2015 and thereafter filed a petition asking for judicial directives for government schemes to be implemented forthwith to stem the acute distress prevalent in rural India. The petition was heard on January 4 and 22, 2016. The nest hearing of the petition is on February 1, 2016.
 
The petition and the written notes both make a strong plea for the Manual for Drought Management to be followed by the Government for managing water resources in the drought-affected areas including  policy for use of reservoir storage, repair and augmentation of all existing water supply schemes  and other emergency measures for supply of drinking water
 
In its petition, the Swaraj Abhiyan has relied on data collected by the Samvedana Yatra across nine states between October 2 to 15, 2016 to assess the ground situation resulting from the drought and also conducted an independent survey in 108 representative villages in the severely affected Budelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh which shows alarming figures: 39% families had not consumed dal even once in the last 30 days, 60% had not consumed any milk and 14% admitted going to bed hungry at least once during this period; 40% families had to resort to distress sale of their cattle, 24% had to mortgage or sell their land and 79% had to eat roti or rice with just salt of chutney at some point since the crop failure around Holi this year.
 
The Swaraj Abhiyan, in its petition, claims that this has been confirmed subsequently by various media reports, and that though it had addressed letters to Chief Ministers of various states to request urgent action on drought relief, they have failed to redress the misery of this vast population, they have even failed to properly implement the existing schemes that could have provided support during this period of distress. Swaraj Abhiyan has also stated in its writ petition that except for 2 states no other states have implemented the National Food Security Act, resulting in the failure to provide adequate food grains through the Public Distribution System at this hour of crisis.
 
In its petition, the response of the Centre and states have been described as ineffective and sluggish: “The total number of person days employment generated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme has actually gone down during this drought period, when it was needed most. States have not followed the relief work required under their own drought manual. Not a single state has as yet paid any relief or compensation for Kharif crop loss; most of the respective governments have failed to fully pay for the crop losses during previous Rabi crops; insurance schemes have benefitted only a tiny fraction. State governments do not have adequate funds to handle this disaster and the Government of India does not follow any transparent method to provide funds for this purpose.”
 
While the fact of drought is admitted by the Union of India and various states and that eight states have already officially declared a state of drought, the states of Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana have not yet declared a drought despite recording rainfall deficit of 28%, 14% and 38% respectively, states the petition. Slamming the states for their weak, ineffective and tardy response towards alleviating the conditions of drought affected citizens, the petitioner has made the startling claim that no government has provided any compensation or relief to the farmers for crop loss during this drought. The Swaraj Abhiyan has charged the states of being highly negligent in performing their obligations and accused them of causing enormous damage to the lives of the people due to their inaction.
 
The petitioner has claimed that though the states are bound to give open handed employment of 150 days at the legal minimum wage for all willing to avail in the drought affected areas in accordance with the standard laid down by the respondents themselves under the MGNREG Act, 2005, they have failed to provide the same. Further, Swaraj Abhiyan, in its PIL has stated that the States have failed to implement the National Food Security Act, 2013 whose very purpose is to provide food security means and make available sufficient food-grains to meet the domestic at affordable prices.
 
The Abhiyan has asserted that the negligence on the part of the Central Government and the State governments amounts to a contravention of the rights of citizens guaranteed under Articles 21 and 14 of the Constitution of India, and it has also charged the states with having abdicated their constitutional obligation under Article 21 of the Constitution of India which makes it mandatory for the Respondents to ensure the right to life of the citizens which includes the right to live with dignity with at least two square meals a day.
 
The petition seeks the intervention of the Supreme Court in such dire circumstances to alleviate the conditions of the drought affected people, the Swaraj Abhiyan has inter alia, sought for directions to the Centre and the 11 states arrayed as the respondents in the writ petition to : (i) declare a drought in their respective states and provide immediate essential relief and compensation to their people to tackle the present natural calamity; (ii) provide adequate and timely compensation for crop loss and input subsidy for the next crop to the farmers affected by drought; (iii) immediately make available and make timely payment for employment of 150 days under the MGNREG Act to the drought affected people, and (iv) immediately make available food-grains as specified under National Food Security Act, 2013 to all the rural people in drought affected areas irrespective of any classification such as APL/BPL; (v) restructure crop loans for damaged crops and other debts of farmers in the drought affected areas; (vi) to formulate uniform standard rules for the purpose of declaration of drought; and (vii) fix fair, objective and transparent package for crop loss compensation.

On the first date of hearing of the matter on January 4, 2016, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to collate data on the various social security schemes being implemented in the 12 drought-affected states. The court asked states to assist the Centre in doing so. The court asked the Centre to collate data on deficit rainfall, implementation of National Food Security Act, midday meal scheme and the Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The petition has sought timely disbursement of crop loans, drought compensation, help in procurement of subsidized cattle fodder and formulating an integrated water policy.

 Meanwhile, the ongoing Right to Food Campaign has collated its findings on the efficacy of the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

Critical data mapping by the Right to Food Campaign (this updated map and this detailed table which depicts the inclusion and exclusion criterion, eligibility lists of beneficiaries and toll free helplines) reflects the rollout of the  National Food Security Act (NFSA)NFSA across India based on statements by the central and state governments. This is a crucial mapping in a year when almost half of the country’s districts reel under severe drought conditions. The situation on the fround however tells a different tale. Especially in states that have only recently enacted and launched the Act, the situation on the ground is far different.
 
Starvation Deaths: There has been a spate of starvation deaths in the news over past months, especially with the 65 deaths in the tea gardens of West Bengal in the last six months of 2015, in the drought-affected districts of Odisha and even Chhattisgarh.  In Uttar Pradesh the drought has been described as a situation of man-made starvation (Hindi). In West Bengal, the Duncan group has agreed to open langars in their gardens but the situation remains grim in other estates.
The findings from the ground on the implementation of the NFSA by the Right to Food Campaign reveal the following:
 
Uttar Pradesh: Uttar Pradesh, where 50 of the 75 districts have been affected by deficit rainfall, was committed to launching the NFSA on December 1, 2015 in three phases till April 2016. But in Bundelkhand the situation is dire. Families are forced to eat rotis made of grass, farmers are mired in debt and out-migration rampant in a situation of official denial of hunger and man-made starvation [Hindi].  A survey conducted by Swaraj Abhiyan in October also found that in 30 days, 39% families had not consumed dal even once, 60% had not consumed any milk and 14% admitted going to bed hungry at least once.
 
Odisha:The NFSA was officially rolled-out on October 2, 2015 and subsidised grain was distributed from early November in 14 districts. But there has been some confusion on the ground at a time when 26 of 30 districts have been affected by drought. The Dongria Kondhs have been denied Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards, that they are automatically eligible for as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). In November=December 2015, the Odisha Khadya Adhikar Abhiyan also organised a Lok Adhikar Yatra which converged in Sambalpur.
 
Jharkhand: The NFSA was formally launched on September 25, 2015, but the distribution of new ration cards has been fraught. The state campaign organised a two-day training program to monitor the implementation of the Act. A one-page survey proforma, guidelines and a software program have also been designed to match the list of eligible beneficiaries from the state government website with the Census 2011 Primary Census Abstract population database, which can be adopted by other state campaigns too.
 
Jammu and Kashmir: There has been sustained opposition to the NFSA by some opposition parties and citizens who have taken to the streets to demand that their original guarantee of 35 kilos per person be retained instead of 5 kilos per person.  
 
But on the positive front, there have been a few important developments:
 
West Bengal: In a welcome development the state government has announced that with an additional expenditure from its own coffers, it will expand the coverage to 80-85% of the population eligible for foodgrains under the Act. This will expand coverage from the current 3.33 crore people in the state to almost 9 crore. In September-October 2015, the state campaign had organised an NFSA awareness campaign with motorbike rallies on 5 routes. 
 
Antyodaya Anna Yojana Restored: Some months ago, the Food Ministry had proposed the winding-up the AAY category to provide 35 kilograms of subsidised foodgrain to ‘poorest of the poor’ families over time. But after much opposition by the campaign, citizens and people’s organisations, that provision has been dropped. The original and modified orders are here.
 
Dal in PDS: With the increase in prices of pulses and uproar in Parliament, the central government has instructed the states to provide pulses through the public distribution system. The Agriculture Ministry has also apparently offered to make pulses available for the PDS.  But only a few states (see table) already provide pulses and oil through ration shops. Many more need to follow suit.
 
ICDS: After substantial across-the-board budget cuts for social sector programs and sustained protests by civil society, allocations for the current year for the ICDS has been marginally increased to Rs.15,485.77 crores. But in the midst of drought, there are reports from Uttar Pradesh that 1.5 lakh children have been denied cooked meals at anganwadis for three months due to delays from the centre.

Roll-out of National Food Security Act, 2013 (Table)
 

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