Food security in the villages of Jharkhand — particularly Chandwa block in Latehar — is extremely low, prompting thousands to migrate to nearby towns in search of livelihood, a study conducted by two students of SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (Mumbai) has found out. The study further showed that the villages are teeming with youngsters — average age is 24 years — while the population of 60 years...

By spending just Rs 6,000 crore, the government can make a huge dent in the treatment of all sick people across the whole country — currently, people are spending as much as Rs 25,000 crore on buying essential medicines. This was the strong message sent out from a National Consultation organized by several civil society groups at New Delhi on Tuesday. Officials of the health ministry and the Planning Commission...

SINCE THE RELEASE OF THE ECONOMIC Survey, 2010, in February, much has been discussed — but far less debated — on the issue of substituting India’s public distribution system (PDS) with a food coupon-based targeted subsidy programme to benefit the below-poverty-line (BPL) families. As a leading proponent of this programme, the economic adviser to the finance ministry, Kaushik Basu, has gone on record advocating the use of food coupons declaring...

Nahrani, a 38-year-old in Lalitpur, a village 30km from Jhansi, has an all-too-familiar tale to tell: a recently deceased husband; the lack of a ration card which promises access to free or inexpensive food; and a village without water, power, schools or health centres. Not one child from the 50-odd families in this village goes to school. The menfolk are perennially drifting, looking for jobs. And no one has heard...

For a man who’s been in the pharmaceutical business all his working life, advocating clean drinking water across the country might seem like a bad business idea. In fact, its health fallout could put me out of business. But there are times when one has to think beyond the balance sheets. Water is one issue that excites passion, yet we give very little thought to it. Those who have seen...