-The Hindu Business Line The effectiveness of the revised Maternity Benefit Act depends on its proper implementation India now lags only Canada and Norway in the level of maternity benefits such as paid time off work extended to women. India’s statutory maternity leave is now the third best in the world and is certainly something to be proud of. However, the law is no assurance that the situation of working women will...

-Hindustan Times India’s performance in the recently released Global Hunger Index (GHI) report is tragic. The country which is one of the largest producers of cereals, vegetables and fruits in the world, ranks 97 among 118 countries and is home to over 184 million undernourished people. India also pays a very heavy price for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, often called “hidden hunger”, as it loses $12 billion in gross domestic product...

-The Hindu Teachers, Anganwadi workers speak out against Centre’s decision Jaipur: Teachers and Anganwadi workers in Rajasthan have spoken out against the Centre's recent decision to link the midday meal scheme to Aadhaar, saying it would completely disrupt the process of food distribution and teaching and learning. They said it would create an “inhuman culture” where children would be denied food due to exclusion through biometrics. While responding to queries of the Right to...

-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...

-Scroll.in The quality and quantity of food that many of India’s children get is not good enough. The recently released National Health Family Survey throws up an interesting conundrum on childhood nutrition. More children below the age of five have reached an acceptable height for their age as per World Health Organisation standards. But children’s weights have not shown a similar improvement for the past decade. National Family Health Survey data is...