Maharashtra Tribals to Protest Denial of food security-IANS Reports

Maharashtra tribals to protest denial of food security

http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/mahrashtra-tribals-protest-denial-food-110018167.html

Nagpur, Dec 23 (IANS) Thousands of the poor and tribals will Wednesday march to the collector's office in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district to protest the denial of food security to over a lakh of downtrodden (below poverty line) BPL families, an activist said here Sunday.

Quoting a Supreme Court guideline and Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2001, Kishor Tiwari, president of farmer advocacy group Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) said the state government should get the lists of BPL and Antyodaya families reviewed every year for the purpose of deletion of ineligible families and inclusion of eligible families.

"However, even after these guidelines, Maharashtra government is following its own survey, which was done in the year 2002, thereby denying food security to more than one lakh BPL families," Tiwari said.

"Hence, over 10,000 people - mostly tribal and downtrodden families - are facing malnutrition and starvation. They will march from their villages to the Yavatmal collector's office to protest deprivation of BPL ration cards, despite intervention of the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court and the apex court following the recommendations of Justice Wadhwa committee," Tiwari added.