-Economic and Political Weekly The public distribution system is the cornerstone of anti-poverty initiatives in India to address the issue of hunger and malnutrition, but is plagued with leakages and corruption. Though several possible reasons account for these problems, one factor that is generally overlooked is the lack of assessment of the preference of the beneficiaries in terms of product portfolio, selection, and delivery mechanisms. Through a mixed methods analysis across...

-The Indian Express Among all the countries included in the report, India has the highest rate of child wasting (which rose from the 2008-2012 level of 16.5 per cent to 20.8 per cent). Its child stunting rate (at 37.9 per cent) also remains shockingly high. The abiding disgrace of new India is that despite unprecedented quantities of wealth and the vulgar ostentation which has become customary in the gaudy glitter of...

-The Indian Express With a virtually unregulated private health system, an increase in notification of TB patients could be heartening for the government. But for the public health system, it is bad news. Over the last month or so, we saw some important documentation on India’s public health. The Annual India Tuberculosis (TB) report was released by the government on September 26. India is now home to about a quarter of...

-Livemint.com Affluent states like Gujarat are failing to ensure their poorer children have a decent diet and that the richer ones are protected from lifestyle diseases India’s healthiest children live in its north-eastern states and Kerala, an analysis of a new national survey conducted by the government shows, but children in these states are also at greater risk of ‘lifestyle diseases’. However, some of the most affluent states - particularly Gujarat, Maharashtra...

-News18.com Another approach to improving citizen engagement could be through community platforms like Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and gram sabhas. The Poshan Abhiyaan intends to do this, but lacks how these platforms reinforce accountability. We are a nation that carries 23.8% of the global burden of malnutrition, with a total of 195.9 million under-nourished people. But it is reassuring that the government is committed to tackle malnutrition on a war footing with...