Annual Report 2008-2009 D. Food Security 6.23 A meeting was convened under the chairmanship of Justice Shri G. P Mathur, Member, NHRC on 6 May 2008 to discuss Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) initiative of preparing a guide on legislating Right to Food. The participants to this meeting were representatives of FAO, senior officers of NHRC and Members of NHRC’s Core Group on Right to Food. 6.24 The meeting deliberated upon the question of providing legal remedy at affordable cost and simple mechanism; enforcement of right to food; regulation of private sectors; monitoring the implementation of right to food at micro and macro level; defining the standards of food security; and research and resource support for addressing the issue of right to food. E. Right to Education 6.25 The National Human Rights Commission has been advocating for the cause of right to education ever since it came into existence in the year 1993. In order to facilitate the implementation of the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002, the Commission organized a two-day National Seminar on Right to Education at New Delhi on 11 and 12 September 2008. The Seminar discussed many issues in depth related to right to education. Based on the detailed deliberations in the Seminar, the recommendations made were adopted by the Commission and circulated to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, concerned Ministries/Departments of the State Governments / Union Territories and other stakeholders. These recommendations are as follows: • In order to achieve some basic uniform standards, the Central Government should enact appropriate legislation at the earliest, as considerable time has already elapsed since the adoption of the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 by the Parliament. However, as free education upto some level is already being provided in almost all the States, the State Governments need not wait for the Central Act in order to take measures for facilitating enforcement of this right. • Right to free and compulsory education should encompass all children until they complete elementary education, i.e. class VIII instead of only the age criteria. • The terms like ‘equitable quality of education’, ‘free and compulsory education’, ‘norms’ and ‘standards’, need to be defined or elucidated. • Adequate focus should be given to crafts and vocational training. • Central, State and Local Governments must assume the responsibility of ensuring right to education. Local Government bodies should strive to ensure participation and involvement of parents, local management committees, communities, non-governmental organizations, etc. in this regard. 88