-The Indian Express The proposed bill makes false promises. The need is to directly address problems of drinking water availability, sanitation, maternal health and childcare The Food Security Bill (2013, FSB) promulgated recently by an ordinance is expected to be debated in Parliament soon. The intention behind the FSB is noble, to eradicate hunger from the country, but the means adopted need serious reconsideration. FSB, under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS),...

-The United Nations The United Nations health agency today called for ensuring that women have accurate information and support regarding the importance of breastfeeding, after a new report found that only 1 in 5 countries fully implement international guidelines about the marketing of breast-milk substitutes. "Nearly all mothers are physically able to breastfeed and will do so if they have accurate information and support," said Carmen Casanovas, breastfeeding expert with the Department...

-The Indian Express No magic pill solution or quick fix can make up for basic administrative deficiencies In a review of Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen's latest book in the Financial Times (July 12, 2013), historian Ramachandra Guha questions whether the Indian state is "up to the job of doing more to tackle poverty". Mainstream debates about the persistence of poverty and pervasive failures in public service delivery in India tend to...

-The Indian Express The Gujarat model of development is not what its champions say it is Having realised that the people of India have not exonerated him for the post-Godhra killings of Muslims in 2002 on his watch, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi systematically tried to build up his image as a "man of development"(vikas purush). The Sangh Parivar called it the "Gujarat model of development" and started propagating it. But what...

-The Hindu     Women are essential for the success of schemes like the mid-day meal programme. Improving their wages and working conditions would be better than blaming them when things go wrong. Mahatma Gandhi once declared, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." By this yardstick, India does not fare well. Consider recent headlines alone: 23 Bihari children die after eating poisoned midday meals at their schools. Six-year-old...