[COVID-19] Karnataka HC urges State to consider recommendations made in NLSIU Survey Report on Food Security in Rural areas

The Karnataka High Court has urged the State government to consider the recommendations made in the survey report titled "Rapid Assessment of the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Food and Nutrition Security in Rural Karnataka," prepared by National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU).

The survey report was prepared by the Centre for Child and the Law, NLSIU based on interviews with 152 respondents from 5 districts i.e. Bidar, Vijayapura, Koppal, Raichur and Ramanagara.

By this report, the Court was informed that the Monitoring and Grievance Redressal System laid down in the National Food Security Act, 2013 had been rendered defunct during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

Further, the Court was told that the State Food Commission was not functioning proactively to monitor the service delivery and that its toll free number was not functional amid the present COVID-19 crisis.