India's impressive economic growth has not led to a reduction in under-nutrition among its children, according to a Harvard study that said the government should use its growing revenues for direct investments in aid like food stamps to address the problem. The Harvard School of Public Health study analysed malnutrition across various regions in India. It said under-nutrition was worst in poor and populous states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar...

Forty years ago Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan helped rescue the world from growing famine and a deepening gloom over the future of food supplies. Today, public policy projects itself as pro-farmer but it does it half-heartedly, complains Swaminathan. M S Swaminathan, member of the National Advisory Council and father of the Green Revolution says the government's allocation for agriculture is insignificant. Doesn't the Union Budget reflect a new focus on agriculture?...

There’s no evidence that India’s growing prosperity has led to less malnutrition among Indian children, according to a new study by scientists from Harvard and the University of Michigan. One plausible explanation, the authors wrote, is that India’s rapid economic growth “may have benefited only the privileged sections of society.” Technology jobs have driven the boom, but 75 percent of the population is supported by farming or manufacturing, noted S. V. Subramanian,...

Social priorities have received scant fiscal attention There is good reason to feel let down by this year’s budget for the advancement of social sectors. The disappointment is more given that the Union finance minister opened his speech by stating that “we are reaching the end of a remarkable fiscal year” and followed it up by immediate assertions that “growth in 2010-11 has been swift and broad-based”, that “the economy...

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday released the Humanitarian Action for Children Report, 2011, requesting $1.4 billion in its appeal to donors to assist children and women caught in the throes of crises. The report highlights 32 countries and emphasizes the increasing importance of strengthening the resilience of communities. “Investing in children and building the resilience of countries and communities living on the edge not only shortens their road...