Courts & Hunger

Why is there hunger and starvation? What are the State’s obligations? What role can the judiciary play as a protector of citizen’s constitutional rights in this respect?

Courts & Hunger attempts to answer these questions through reporting of a decade-long rigorous proceeding before the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court of India connected with the widely-reported starvation deaths in Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK) districts of Odisha. These proceedings evolved a unique way to address complex problems from drinking water, food and health care delivery to land reforms. In the process, they exposed the myth that natural calamities alone cause hunger and starvation. The human tragedy was man-made: the State’s neglect, inaction and apathy appeared to be the principal cause behind the people’s suffering. Amartya Sen’s ‘Entitlement Approach’ was used as a legal foundation to recognize the social and economic rights of the poor. The judicially monitored exercise eventually brought perceptible changes to these chronically affected districts and led to remarkable improvement in the overall quality of life.

Today, whether it is the case of migration of workers or the distribution of medicines during a pandemic or the making of social and economic benefits accessible to those living in the remotest regions, the State can efficiently tackle all by adopting a similar systemic approach, by being transparent and accountable and by keeping the welfare of the people as its sole aim and object. The courts too, by being sensitive to their constitutional obligations, can effectively alleviate human suffering. This book shows the way forward.