Food Security exists when all people ,at all times ,have physical ,social and
economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Article 21
of the Indian constitution embarks that right to life does not mean mere
existence, but life with dignity but the centre and state governments as well as
ministries in the present grim scenario have failed to fulfil their obligations
for effectively providing food security in the country.
The right to adequate food is a universal human right that is realized when all
people have physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or the
means for its procurement, without discrimination of any kind. All human beings
have the right to food that is available in sufficient quantity, nutritionally
and culturally adequate and physically and economically accessible. The three
main elements of the right to food are: availability, adequacy and accessibility
of food.
Availability refers to enough food being produced for both the present and the
future generations, therefore entailing the notions of sustainability, or long
-term availability, and the Protection of the environment.
Adequacy refers to the dietary needs of an individual which must be fulfilled
not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of nutritious quality of the
accessible food. It also includes the importance of taking into account
non-nutrient values attached to food, be they cultural ones or consumer
concerns.
Accessibility implies that the financial costs incurred for the acquisition of
food for an adequate diet does not threaten or endanger the realization of other
basic needs. Physical accessibility implies that everyone ,including physically
vulnerable individuals such as infants and young children , elderly people, the
physically disabled , the terminally ill, and persona with persistent medical
problems, including the mentally ill, should be ensured access to adequate food.
The right to food is a human right . It protects the right of all human beings
to live in dignity, free from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. The
right to food is not about charity, but about ensuring that all people have the
capacity to feed themselves in dignity. The right to food is protected under
International human rights and humanitarian law and the correlative state
obligations are well- established under International law. The right to food is
recognized in Article 25 of the Universal declaration on Human rights and
Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social & cultural rights
(ICESCR) as well as a plethora of other instruments. Noteworthy is also the
recognition of the right to food in numerous national constitutions.
Article 39 (a) of the Constitution enunciated as one of the directive
principles, fundamental in the governance of the country, requires the state to
direct its policies towards securing that all its citizens have the right to an
adequate means of livelihood, while Article 47 spells out the duty of the state
to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living of its people as a
primary responsibility.
The Constitution thus makes the right to food a guaranteed fundamental right
which is enforceable by virtue of the constitutional remedy provided under
Article 32 of the Constitution. The acute Problem of malnutrition and
Starvation deaths that continue to take place in India, in violation of the
right to food and inspite of various food security schemes introduced by the
government.
Written By: A . Jonah Elisa Shiny
