What is the benefit when godowns are full and people are starving? ‘People who starve are also citizens of this country…they cannot be denied foodgrains' ‘How can the Planning Commission justify such a meagre amount to determine BPL status?' The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Centre's approach to eradication of Malnutrition and its failure to take steps to prevent starvation deaths in certain pockets of the country. A Bench comprising Justice Dalveer Bhandari...

Global health organisations cite his work to control TB in tribal areas An international network of health organisations, and individual professionals, researchers, medical students and health activists have written to the World Health Organisation, requesting it to support the cause of release of Binayak Sen. Fourteen health organisations and 178 individual health workers have endorsed the letter written to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan and WHO Executive Secretary of the Stop TB partnership,...

Many Indians eat poorly. Would a “right to food” help? “LOOK at this muck,” says 35-year-old Pamlesh Yadav, holding up a tin-plate of bilious-yellow grains, a mixture of wheat, rice and mung beans. “It literally sticks in the throat. The children won’t eat it, so we take it home and feed it to the cows.” Mrs Yadav has brought her children to a state-run nursery in Bhindusi village in rural Rajasthan. The...

After gaining 12 healthy points since the 2001 Census, the literacy rate of Uttar Pradesh moved closer to the national average of 74.04%. The state registered a literacy rate of 69.72% in the 2011 Census. Top performers in the state, which helped in increasing the percentage by several points are Ghaziabad (85%), Gautam Budh Nagar (82.20%) and capital Lucknow (79.33%). Female literacy rates in the state have also registered a remarkable jump...

Distribution of basic food grains and fuel at controlled prices every month through the Public Distribution System (PDS) could be the largest service provided by the Indian State, touching as it does over 65 million families through a network of nearly half a million retail shops. Given that the urban middle class has little stake in the health of the PDS, there have to be some compelling reasons for the...