Context :
Open community kitchens, end hunger, SC tells Centre / TOI / 19 Jan 2021
Extract :
Bemused by the Centre's deadpan statement that there are no starvation deaths in the country, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked whether the government seriously believed that the apex court would accept such a stand when statistics and data , both from the domestic and foreign surveys, till recently, indicated much to the country
…… a bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli said :
“ Hunger and malnutrition go hand in hand . Hunger has to be satiated. It is the duty of the governments to provide food to the section of the population that stays hungry. Community Kitchens need to be spread far and wide , into the rural areas “
CJI Ramana-led bench lamented that during the electioneering most political parties talk of various freebies and welfare schemes.
"Many states have popular community kitchen schemes. So, if they talk about spreading these kitchens far and wide, it would be popular “
"They (the political parties) are promising so many freebies . Instead of giving the freebies, if they (political parties and governments ) could frame schemes to provide food to the hungry, these would also be very popular among people. “
The CJI pointed out to the AG, from the National Family Health Survey Report of the Union Government that as many as 26 % of the male children are malnourished , while the percentage of girls are higher at 30 %
"It is difficult for the court to frame a straitjacket model National Community Kitchen Scheme, as various regions have their own peculiarities and food habits. Cooking food and giving it to the hungry is a difficult task and requires considerable expertise “
The AG said that the grass-root level democratic governance institutions, the PANCHAYATS, would be best suited to run the Community Kitchens, as they know which areas have high prevalence of malnutrition among the population
The CJI led bench asked the Union Government to also study the manner in which ISKCON runs the “ Akshya Patra “ scheme to provide FREE FOOD to poor children in many States
The bench directed the States to provide all statistics and data about malnutrition and starvation deaths , the area where its prevalence is higher as well as other details , in an affidavit within two weeks
The SC said these affidavits would be provided to the AG for consultations with the Union Government officials, for FRAMING of a SCHEME , in the next ten days.
CJI Ramana reminded the AG that the majority of the States in their affidavits have said that they were willing to widen the reach of the COMMUNITY KITCHENS provided the Centre framed a MODEL SCHEME and gave FOOD GRAIN support
No starvation death reported in recent years, Centre tells SC / HT / 19 Jan 2022
Extract :
The bench, however, replied that the court is not expecting the Centre to run a scheme for community kitchen but would instead want it to frame a model scheme and circulate it to all the states and UTs for their consideration.
“Government of India should not take it as an adversarial issue. You must have a practical approach... Why don’t you think of some model scheme ? It is difficult for us to frame a uniform scheme but the Centre could make a model scheme and leave it to the states to do the rest,” the bench asked the A-G.
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MY TAKE :
Dear Hon CJI Ramanaji,
You are absolutely right when you say :
“….It is difficult for the court to frame a straitjacket model National Community Kitchen Scheme “
I have following request :
When you hand-over to AG, all those affidavits received from the States for discussions / consultations with the Union Government officials for FRAMING of a SCHEME, please ask him to use the following CONCEPTUAL model :
( source : Community Kitchen ? Never too late ! / 01 Dec 2021 )
[ A ] Involvement / Participation
Ø This scheme should involve total involvement of all the States. They should be made responsible for its
implementation and monitoring ( within their respective States )
[ B ] Organizational Framework
Ø Much similar to GST COUNCIL, this scheme must have an MANAGING COUNCIL, consisting of Food
Secretaries from ALL the States
Ø This Council may be named “ No One Starving Or Hungry in India ( NOSOHI ) “
Ø NOSOHI will formulate Framework - Rules – Regulations – Systems – Procedures etc re this scheme
Ø Proposed Framework may incorporate the desirable elements of Co-operative Movement , enshrined in the
examples of AMUL / LIJJAT Papad / Anganwadi etc., which would convey the “ Spirit of Service “
[ C ] Generation of Self Employment
Ø The scheme should enable a large number of destitute women to participate and become Self-Employed
Ø In the towns / villages / cities, selected by the State Governments, some State Ministry must be tasked with
the job of encouraging formation of Women’s Community Kitchen Co-Op Societies, who shall manage
these Community Kitchens
Ø To each such “ approved / enlisted “ Society, State Government will make available the physical premises (
with water / power ). The size of premises will be linked to the number of poor hungry persons to be fed by
the Society, every day ( pre-determined )
Ø To each such Society, the Central Government shall make available ( free of cost ) :
# All Kitchen equipment ( including Gas Chulhas + Gas Cylinders ). In course of time, when available
commercially, these gas stoves should be replaced with Solar Cookers / Chulhas .
# All tables / chairs required for the Dining Area ( No food shall be allowed to be taken out )
# All Storage equipment, including Refrigerators ( for Cereals and for cooked food )
# All Ancilliary equipment ( including cleaning equipment )
Downside of my above-mentioned suggestion :
Ø Creation of such a huge infrastructure is very difficult in a short time
Ø Once created ( at a huge Capital and Recurring Expense ), it is very difficult to administer
Ø There will be leakages and corruption ( in Supply Chain )
Dear Secretaries :
While drafting your Community Kitchen Scheme , irrespective of its proposed structure, I urge you to incorporate the following provisions :
Ø Hungry person who queues up to collect COUPONS or FOOD PACKET, will NOT be asked ANY
QUESTION, whatsoever . Please do not HUMILIATE a poor hungry human !
Ø He / she will not be asked :
# Domicile – Nationality – Name – Address – any Identity Card /
Document – Community – Religion –Caste –Age – whether employed /
jobless etc
Ø Although you may recommend installation of a FACIAL RECOGNITION system at each kitchen, it will be for
the sole purpose of keeping count ( of the numbers served each lunch / dinner ) and to avoid DUPLICATE issues to
same person.
Ø No beneficiary will be allowed to take the FOOD PACKET, outside the kitchen. It must be consumed inside the kitchen’s Dining Area
only
Ø However, your scheme should provide for taking home the Food Packets, in cases of OLD-SICK-INVALID-BED RIDDEN, poor
humans who just cannot walk up to the nearest kitchen. In such cases, relative / family member / friend or an NGO volunteer may be
allowed to take out the food packet, after entering full “ SICK BENEFICIARY DATA “ in a centrally computerized system
Incidentally, all over India, religious trusts are running FREE " Bhojanalaya " , serving meals to thousands of devotees every day. One such Community Kitchen is at Sarangpur in Gujarat which claims to be running this service for past 100 years ( 24 x 7 ) , with 30 lakh ( 3 million ) being served every year
==============================
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 19 Jan 2022
Related Readings :
Thank You, Smt Smriti Iraniji ………………………………………. [ 08 Nov 2021 ]
BANMALI arrives : Named as Poshan Tracker…………………[ 17 Apr 2021 ]
A Mobile App named " BANMALI "………………………………….. [ 15 Sept 2016 ]
BANMALI is the TOTAL SOLUTION …………………………………..[ 14 Nov 2016 ]
Can Akshay Patra Banish Malnutrition ? ………………………….[ 05 June 2017 ]
Thank You Madam Maneka Gandhiji ………………………………..[ 21 Dec 2018 ]
Saving 1.2 million Kids …………………………………………………… [ 29 June 2016 ]
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