-The Hindu Scope for the middlemen has increased, says IIT professor Reetika Khera In Bandaveedhi village in Paderu in Visakhapatnam agency, 400 residents had gone without the basic food items from the public distribution system (PDS) in April, as the officer concerned had a marriage at home and had no time to switch on the biometric machine that would record the finger prints of the beneficiaries. In Kasimkota, Padma, 70, was sent...

-The Hindu For the Chenchus, the Nallamala forest is their home. Not any longer after a National Tiger Conservation Authority order stripped them of their rights in a bid to fortify India’s largest tiger reserve. The sun has barely risen but the Chenchu men and women along with their children are out on a long trek, one which will take them deep into the Nallamala forest along the Eastern Ghats, in...

-Livemint.com Lessons learnt from the Right to Food case can be applied for other social issues that end up at the Supreme Court’s doorstep every day New Delhi: In 2001, 47 tribals and Dalits were starved to death in south-eastern Rajasthan as the state reeled from its third consecutive year of drought. The tragedy occurred despite India’s warehouses were brimming with an excess of around 40 million tonnes of foodgrains that year. Weeks...

-TheWire.in In Gujarat’s Chhota Udaipur, MNREGA has helped villagers increase their earnings, improved connectivity in the area and led to higher farm yields. In the ubiquitous environment of the withdrawal of the welfare state across the globe, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in India stands out as a critical and unique intervention. MNREGA is a social safety net that guarantees 100 days of employment to every rural household...

-Orissa Post Kaliapani: Even as eight months have passed since malnutrition deaths in hilltop Nagada village under Sukinda block in Jajpur district were reported, tribals in this area depend on salt and rice for their survival as benefits of welfare schemes still elude them. The state government was embarrassed after news spread that 22 kids of primitive Juang tribe had died due to alleged malnutrition in these villages. It was claimed that...