Human Rights Commission deems the tuber to be a basic right

It is sad but true that in the face of higher-profile human rights issues, other equally hot potatoes get pushed out of public view. So, watchdog institutions have to be vigilant, and our National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is obviously doing its duty vigorously.

It cannot be denied that when it comes to vegetables, there is nothing quite so ubiquitous as the potato. Its value to society can be gauged by the fact that certain politicians even rhyme their own indispensability with it. Life without it would be desolate as many dishes that are the staple of the common people would entirely vanish. Hence, the direction of the NHRC to the West Bengal government to restart supply to potato-deprived Odisha within eight weeks is clearly not an example of judicial overreach.

That for the past few months Odias have been denied their basic human right of partaking of the humble tubers — as West Bengal has kept them confined in cold storages in the state — is unconscionable, given that other more expensive vegetables continue to enjoy a free run. The recognition of potato consumption as a human right will presumably pave the way for other vegetables to be similarly safeguarded. Not since the salt satyagraha has the simple act of consumption been imbued with such a sense of higher purpose.