Understanding Right to Food and Social Exclusion

Food security is a human right and it has been recognized in all countries. Right to Food is more important in India. Hunger, malnutrition and poverty are major triological challenges for its development. Hunger and Poverty are also violation of human rights. The right to food is not about charity of people, but about ensuring that all people, at all time have the capacity to food themselves in order to retain their dignity. The National Food Security Act is one of the important step taken by the government for protecting the poor people. Many people are excluded from their fundamental rights, particularly Right to Food. According to Right to Food Act, Article 21 of the constitution, entitled “protection of life and personal liberty”, says, in its entirety, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”. Due to Hunger and malnutrition, certain group of people are affected adversely, particularly, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, women, children, the elderly and the handicapped. It is one of the main cause for social exclusion.This paper attempts to examine the basic concepts, features, dimension of food security, Right to food and Social Exclusion.