'Vote for party committed to communal amity, food security'

The Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity, an organisation that includes some noted citizens, Thursday appealed to the people of Delhi to vote for a party committed to maintaining communal harmony and providing food security.

In a release, the forum, which has former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey as its president, said social and economic rights earned by people after long struggle were in the process of being diluted and abrogated.

The signatories to the appeal included Justice (retd) Rajinder Sachar, journalist Kuldip Nayar and activist Swami Agnivesh.

They slammed some decisions of the Narendra Modi government, including changes in the land acquisition bill.

"The people in India are faced with a critical situation. Inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities among individuals and groups of people are growing," the release said.

The forum said the coverage under the Food Security Act was proposed to be curtailed and public distribution system may be dismantled.

"The subsidies on essential commodities, which cushioned the impact of inflation are threatened to be reduced or scrapped," the release said.

It said the allocation of resources for such essential services as education, health and employment had been drastically reduced in the name of fiscal discipline to attract foreign investment.

"We would, therefore, appeal to the people to exercise their vote in the forthcoming election in Delhi with caution and not support candidates of political parties which have brought the country to the brink, have been responsible for its rapid deterioration over the past few months and are pursuing the above deleterious political and economic agenda," the appeal said.

It said people should vote for a party which is committed to maintaining communal amity, curbing inflation, including through the provision of subsidised essential goods, and not dispossessing people of their productive assets.

The appeal said the people should vote for a party which provides widest coverage of food security, generates jobs on a large scale through production of goods and services and works for reducing cost of electricity and water.