Introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, the UPA government’s Food Security Bill is finally going to be discussed in the current (Budget) Session of Parliament. The proposed legislation is now slated to see many additional amendments from the government, following criticism from the States, NGOs and diverse stake-holders working on access to food and child health. Attempt here is to summarise in a Q & A format the...

-Tehelka The National Food Security Act is probably going to undergo many changes before it is presented in Parliament. But everyone seems to agree that it’s time has come Towards the end of January, a few days after Republic Day and a little over a week after the Congress’s conclave in Jaipur, large half-page advertisements appeared in major newspapers: “Celebrating the 63rd year anniversary of our Republic by putting food on everybody’s...

-The Times of India Over 3,700 children, majority of whom are girls, went missing from Delhi homes in the last five years and are still untraceable yet the Delhi government says it has no evidence of organized gangs operating in the national capital indulging in kidnapping or trafficking of children. The Delhi home department through advocate S Wasim Qadri cited a special initiative taken by Delhi Police under 'Pehchan' scheme to photograph...

-The Indian Express Addressing an auditorium brimming with at least 2,000 people at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen, at a panel discussion on 'Hunger and Nutrition', laid out his vision for why food security should get top priority in the country. Outside the hallowed halls of IIT Delhi, the UPA's National Food Security Bill is being debated publicly in states and the Standing Committee...

-The Business Standard The Nobel laureate says neglecting children is not only unjust but also an economic blunder Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said the National Food Security Bill needs to be strengthened to include children’s entitlements. According to him, the Bill, in the current form, neglects children. He pointed out that there are powerful lobbies for diesel and LPG subsidies, and even for exemptions of custom duties on gold imports. However, nobody is...