-The Hindu Minister was responding to a tweet from Rahul Gandhi which cited a news report on allocations for children being slashed by half Union Minister Smriti Irani has said that a children-centric scheme of the government had seen a “390%” increase in budgetary allocations since 2014. She was responding to a tweet by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. On Monday, Mr. Gandhi retweeted a news report on “share” of budgetary allocation for children...

-The Hindu Govt. has said PMMVY will cover second child only when it is a girl The government’s recent announcement that the maternity benefit programme which provides ₹5,000 for first child will be extended to cover the second child only if it is a girl has met with sharp criticism from activists who have demanded that it be universalised. The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), launched in 2017, provides ₹5,000 for the...

-The Hindu Project Sampoorna’s success in reducing child malnutrition is a model that can be easily implemented anywhere ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’. This statement is often attributed to Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, and quite literally sums up Project Sampoorna which was conceptualised and successfully implemented in Bongaigaon district of Assam. An interlink The project has resulted in the reduction of malnutrition in children using near zero economic...

-The Hindu A total of 9.27 lakh severely acute malnourished children between the age of six months and six years have been identified in the country till November 2020, the government told Parliament. Over 40% of such children were found in Uttar Pradesh alone. "As per ICDS-RRS (Rapid Reporting System) Portal, as on 30th November, 2020, 9,27,606 severely acute malnourished (SAM) children (6 months - 6 years) have been identified in the country,...

The rise in COVID-19 daily new cases and daily new deaths compelled many state governments to impose local level lockdowns during April-May 2021. As of 20th April, 2021, partial lockdowns were noticed in 10 states across the country and complete lockdown was imposed in Delhi. As of 8th May, 2021, nearly the entire country was under complete lockdown as a result of either partial lockdowns and night curfews or complete...