The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent a notice to the Union Ministry of Food and Public Distribution Secretary over the issue of spiraling prices of food items and the failure of Government in controlling the situation.
The apex human rights panel registered a case based on a petition filed by activist-lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy. The price rise has been continuing basically due to the nexus of politicians and hoarders that control the rural credit system, on which farmers are dependent.
Farmers who challenge the nexus are deprived of credit facilities. This compulsion makes farmers slaves of the system, Radhakanta had contended.
He pointed out the existence of hoardings and cartels, the APMC Act and a recent Competition Commission’s report on the 2010 highlighting the issue of cartelisation of trade and the traders’ grip over the credit system.
The Competition Commission report, however, clearly notes that only few farmers gain even when prices go through the roof.
High price of vegetables and other food items has been continuing for months together making it impossible for poor and BPl families to buy for consumption.
The Government has failed to keep control over such price rise, despite various reports. At this juncture, the inaction of the Government in controlling the price rise of onions amounts to deprievation of food and denial of basic human rights, Radhakanta had alleged.
He had requested the NHRC to take immediate action on the issue and send a team of officials to visit Nasik and other places to check the hoardings and cartels and direct the Central as well as State Governments to take certain steps to control onion prices immediately to ensure the poor people’s right to food is not breached.
The NHRC sought a report on food and public distribution within eight weeks.