NHRC calls govt to secure food rights

Kathmandu, October 16:

The National Human Rights Commission today called the government to adopt a special working plan to guarantee people’s right to get food.

The NHRC, in a statement issued today, called the government to secure the rights of the people as guaranteed by the national and international legal instruments.

“The sovereignty of the food is guaranteed by the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, but the government authorities are not serious to respect the right,” the NHRC stated.

The NHRC, on the occasion of International Food Day, called the government to adopt suitable policy, programme and working plan to effectively guarantee the people’s rights to healthy food to evade starvation.

Meanwhile, the INHURED, an NGO working for protection of human rights, today said that the comprehensive peace agreement beween the government and the Maoists is in danger due to the violation of the peace accord. Continuation of abduction, extortion and ill treatment of sympathisers of opposing ideas has threatened the agreement, INHURED said in a statement.

Another report said the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) has decided to celebrate the World Food Day on October 16 as National Food Safety Day from next year onwards.

Uttam Kumar Bhattarai, director general of the DFTQC, at a programme organised by the DFTQC today to mark the World Food Day today said: “Food-borne diseases cause most of the diseases and deaths, but people lack awareness about safe food, therefore, the National Food Safety Day must be celebrated to raise awareness on the issue.”

Food safety includes the whole chain from production to consumption of quality food with proper labels with mention of date of manufacture and expiry. “Any effort to create awareness about food safety needs to have a holistic package to make people aware from the production phase of food items to the consumption phase,” Bhattarai said, adding that proper monitoring of the whole chain should be the done to ensure food safety and the DFTQC will further strengthen its monitoring part in the coming years. “We have failed to achieve the desired level of food safety,” said Bhattarai adding that unsafe food may cause diseases like cancer and Hepatitis A.