-The Indian Express For a country that aims to be a regional power, the data on child nutrition confirms that the situation is abysmal. Save for Bihar, six of the seven states with the highest incidence of stunting, for example, are ruled by the BJP or the BJP and its allies – Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Bihar. After an agonising wait of over ten years, the...

-CivilSocietyOnline.com New Delhi: An estimated 50 percent of children in the National Capital Territory of Delhi are undernourished, but a State Food Commission that can address the problem has not been set up. The Food Security Act of 2013 stipulates the setting up of food commissions in the states to monitor mid-day meals served in government schools and Supplementary nutrition provided in anganwadis, which are mother and child care centres. It has been...

-The Indian Express The Indian Express visited 14 anganwadis, and found similar problems almost everywhere. New Delhi: A healthy meal and a stepping stone for school — anganwadis in the city have two key responsibilities. The Indian Express explores the problems at each front Five-year-old Naseem does not go to school, but that doesn’t mean he can stay at home after breakfast. As soon as the clock strikes 9 am, Naseem leaves home,...

-Hindustan Times The last few weeks have seen a spate of government notifications making Aadhaar mandatory for receiving the benefits of government programmes. The most recent orders relate to an Aadhaar requirement for children to access schools (even under their fundamental right to education), mid-day meals, Supplementary nutrition (ICDS) and scholarships. These directives raise a number of ethical as well as practical questions, besides violating children’s right to education, nutrition and...

-Economic and Political Weekly Rajesh Mishra (rajeshnipccd@yahoo.com) is working with the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, Ministry of Women and Child Development, GoI, Indore.   A research study conducted in three tribal districts— Alirajpur, Barwani and Khandwa—of Madhya Pradesh, based on a sample of 294 women with their last child in the age-group of six months–five years analyses the status and determinants of malnutrition and child death. Despite certain infant...