NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday took the government to task on the issue of starvation deaths in some parts of the country even while the Food Corporation of India's granaries are overflowing.
Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi brought up the issue during zero hour with a small, prepared speech criticising the government for remaining a "mute spectator when our countrymen are dying of hunger".
Gandhi said it was painful to see people dying of hunger while the country's food stocks were overflowing. "I seek the urgent attention of the government on this issue," she told the House.
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav was harsher, accusing the government of being more focussed on bridging the budgetary deficit and pleasing foreign investors than feeding the hungry.
"Children are being sold for Rs 300, young girls at Rs 5000, because parents don't have food to feed them," he said.
"Don't push the poor to the wall," he warned. "If you do not help them, people will be forced to loot the godowns."
Veteran Marxist Somnath Chatterji requested parliamentarians not to politicise the issue. "It is a reflection on the failure of the system in India," he said.
He objected to the import of rice from Thailand "in the name of WTO [provisions]" even as the country's godowns overflow.
Bikram Deo, Bharatiya Janata Party member from Orissa, raised the hackles of the Congress by alleging that it had done nothing to implement long-term measures to combat starvation.
Vijay kumar Malhotra, also BJP, pointed out that it was the responsibility of the states to distribute to the poor the food made available by the Centre.
K Yerran Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party called for a special debate to decide on short- and long-term measures to stop the starvation deaths.
Winding up the debate, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan requested Gandhi to inform him in advance, whenever possible, about the topics she would be raising in zero hour, "so that I can request the minister concerned to remain present and respond".
He agreed that the Centre had some responsibility in the situation by virtue of being the biggest buyer of food grain. But he added that transporting the grain from the Centre's depots to the people was the responsibility of the state governments concerned.
Later, Anadi Sahu, BJP member of Parliament from Orissa, told rediff.com, "Politicians should be blamed for this crisis. Shanta Kumar, minister for food and public distribution, has given 1.5 lakh tonnes of grain free of cost to Orissa, but the government has picked up only 8,000 tonnes!"
Sahu pointed out that the purchasing power of the people has also dwindled. "Every year before Diwali and in summer tribals in Orissa face starvation because their own crops are not ready and they don't have money to buy food," he said.
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
