Terming the government’s demonetisation move as a “major attack on the right to food and the right to life”, hundreds of civil society organisations and individuals have demanded that the annual budget for the rural job guarantee scheme, MGNREGA, be increased to Rs 60,000 crore and the Centre’s contribution be hiked from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000/month.
Pensioners and MGNREGA workers, among others, find it difficult to secure their meagre pensions and wages at the best of times. “Now, with the banking system jammed, millions of them are in danger of their lifeline being cut off for weeks or even months,’ said a statement of the Right to Food Campaign, which also demanded compensation for the bereaved families of those who died, a reversal of all social spending budget cuts and full disclosure on how, when, why and by whom the decision was made to demonetise.
“That apart, the government must support these priority commitments by way of partial compensation for the intolerable hardships,” said the statement signed by National Networks, National Federation for Indian Women, Human Rights Law Network, National Campaign for People's Right to Information, National Alliance of People’s Movements, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, National Conference of Dalit Organisations, National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights and the National Fishworkers’ Federation, among others.
The statement said the government was showing no interest in other measures that are likely to be more effective in curbing corruption. “Three years after the Lokpal Act came into force, no Lokpal has been appointed. Likewise, the Whistleblowers Protection Act (passed in February 2014) awaits implementation. In fact, the government has introduced amendments in Parliament to dilute these two Acts. It has also failed to reintroduce the Grievance Redressal Bill, which had the support of all parties but lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 2014,” it said.
The activists also flayed the way cashless payment systems were being pushed by “blanket demonetisation”, whose “main beneficiaries are the private companies involved in cashless payments.”
It said traders and vendors had seen their sales dive, often by 50 per cent or more. “Sales of durable goods have crashed across the board. Construction activity has slowed down. And most importantly, workers have been laid off on a large scale”.
Urging the government to take measures to protect people from insecurity and impoverishment, the activist demanded maternity entitlements of Rs 6,000/child as guaranteed in the National Food Security Act, central assistance for inclusion of milk, eggs and fruits in school mid-day meals and anganwadis, among other things.