-The Hindu Business Line Fails to ease distress caused by demonetisation’ New Delhi: Terming the Union Budget 2017-18, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, as detrimental to the realisation of the welfare State, as enshrined in the Constitution, civil rights organisations said it “fails to respond to the present situation of distress and unemployment especially aggravated by demonetisation.” “The Budget seems to be perpetuating unemployment, hunger and malnutrition,” said a release by the...

-IANS Kolkata: Lack of policy directions for ensuring quality implementation of programmes makes the Union Budget 2017-18 allocations to ailing core social sectors like education and health inadequate in delivering the benefits, experts say. Schemes like Swachh Bharat-Urban and the National Social Assistance Programme saw no increase, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan got a mere 4.4 per cent rise in allocation, while the Integrated Child Development Services got an enhancement of about five per...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has proposed making food fortification mandatory for all staples like rice, wheat flour, edible oil and milk to fight malnutrition but some experts have urged a cautious approach, warning of hidden costs and unproven health benefits. The Telegraph had reported in January 2016 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pushed the idea of universal fortification - addition of key vitamin and minerals to foods to improve...

-Down to Earth Almost 40 per cent of India's population is minor but the budget allocated to them is a meagre four per cent of the Union budget It was a mid-winter morning when we first met her at the anganwadi centre of Mai, a small village by the bank of the River Ganga in Bihar’s Munger district. The breakfast session at the anganwadi centre was just over, though some of the...

-Hindustan Times Low-cost State-sponsored food schemes are mushrooming across India. Inspired by Tamil Nadu’s Amma Canteens – where meals are sold for as little as Rs. 5 - Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana and Rajasthan have followed suit and started similar canteens in their states. Madhya Pradesh too is planning to launch a similar subsidised food scheme. The growth of such canteens across India underscores several issues related to the Right to...