When: Thursday 17th September; 2.00-3.30pm
Registration: Register in advance here
Hosted by DSAI Civil Society Study Group and the Centre for Global Development, UCC.
In this 4th Summer Zoominar, the DSAI Civil Society Study Group brings you conversations on Food (in)Security in India with agricultural researcher & journalist Sandip Das, Right to Food Campaigner, gender and health researcher activist Dr Dipa Sinha, and activist/ campaigner/ head of Spread, Bidyut Mohanty.
Dr Nick Chisholm, Director of Centre for Global Development, UCC, will chair the session.
About the Speakers:
Sandip Das, agricultural researcher and journalist, has written (media articles, stories and opinion pieces) extensively on issues relating to agriculture and food security in India. He travels extensively for understanding the critical challenges faced by farmers and the agriculture sector in India. A major focus of his writings has been on the implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 from the aspects of operations (Food Corporation of India, the agency which supplies grains to NFSA) and its financial implications on the central government budgetary provisions. Currently, he is associated with Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi as Senior Consultant. He is carrying out research on promoting efficiency of value chains in dairy, fruits and vegetables and its implications of India’s food inflation. He is also consultant at Verghese Kurien Centre for Excellence, Institute of Rural Development (IRMA), Anand, Gujarat, India.
Bidyut Mohanty is the head of SPREAD (Society for Promoting Rural Education and Development), a community-based organization in South Odisha. He has been working on tribal issues for over 25 years. Some of his outstanding development related activities include the revival and popularistaion of ‘grain banks’ for different varieties of paddy & ragi millets in 224 villages covering 11,250 tribal and dalit households to challenge indebtedness and exploitation of the poor and to ensure food security. See- http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/variety/the-gains-from-a-grain-bank/article2834102.ece. A landmark victory is the campaign for displaced tribal & dalit people’s rights over cashew land in Koraput district which led the state to accede thousands of acres of Cashew plantation lands to tribal and Dalit families from the year 2000 to 2008. See http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/fruits-of-struggle-3216. He is also member of innumerable government committees linked to the National Food Security Act and led its Social Audit process in 240 Gram Panchayats across six districts. Amongst other significant roles, he is also the Convener of Voice for Child Rights Odisha (VCRO) through which he has been responsible in rescuing many migrant children from bonded labour. Mohanty has been awarded the ‘True Legend’ award by the Telegraph in 2016.
Dr Dipa Sinha is Assistant Professor, Economics at Ambedkar University Delhi. As a researcher and an activist she worked on issues related to food rights, nutrition and public health. She has worked with the Office of Commissioners to the Supreme Court (on the Right to Food) and is actively involved with the Right to Food Campaign. She has written extensively on issues related to public policy, gender, health and nutrition. Her book, "Women, Health and Public Services in India: Why are states different?" has been published by Routledge India. She has done her MA in Economics from JNU, MSc in Development Studies from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London. Dr Sinha is also Member, Project Team, Report on Food Systems and Nutrition, High Level Panel of Experts, Committee on World Food Security, and was awarded Health and Population Innovations Fellow of the Population Council and the British Chevening Open Social Science Award for pursuing MSc at SOAS.