Food Security Hearing – Food for all, Work for all!

A large number of people from marginalized sections – dalits, irulars, non-fishing communities etc – had been left out of the relief provisions.  The government had prepared lists of people who were affected by the Tsunami and many of these people were not listed.  In some places the local officials had enumerated many people who were not affected and had not listed those who were.  Particularly many of the most vulnerable sections – widows, older men and women, handicapped people – were left out. In several areas NGOs were providing them with basic relief – but this was not enough.  If they are left out, their food security over the next several months will become a serious problem. There were 2 categories of people left out:

• Entire communities – mostly dalit and irular communities, several hamlets that were indirectly affected and agricultural laborers in lands which had become saline.

• Specific vulnerable people within each community – mostly women living alone, handicapped people, etc.

Under the leadership of the PUCL (a voluntary group of lawyers), several organizations including AID came together to organize public hearings on food security and livelihood for the Tsunami affected people. This was done as part of the Supreme Court’s Food Commissioner’s inquiry into the status of food security for the Tsunami affected people. This gave the hearings a semi-official status and we were able to get quite a few officials to attend to hearings.  Food hearing committees were formed in each district to survey and identify people affected and left out. We prepared the formats for survey and pamphlets on food security needs which were distributed widely.  We mobilized people in all the districts to come to the hearings and to report on what had gone wrong in the relief enumeration and distribution.  Several complaints of misuse and of being left out were reported and documented.  In all more than 5000 angry people participated in the different district hearings and in the state hearing in Chennai – many with terrible stories of poverty, hunger and injustice.