-The Hindu Innovative techniques needed to extend nutrition services in urban areas, it says Poor women in urban areas were shorter, thinner and more anaemic as compared to those from higher wealth categories, according to a new study which calls for policy initiatives to focus on urban poor women to curb malnutrition. The research aims at determining the levels and trends of different forms of malnutrition among urban poor women and look beyond...

-The Hindu NITI Aayog’s draft working paper to strengthen the ICDS programme in urban areas For every 100 anganwadi beneficiaries in the country, only seven are in urban areas, according to the government’s response to a Right to Information (RTI) query from The Hindu. This is primarily because of a severe lack of anganwadis in cities, leading to poor coverage of the government’s flagship programme in early childhood development.   Six services Anganwadis or day-care...

-The Indian Express A reworking of curriculum and activities is urgently needed for the age band from four to eight. ASER 2019 report underlines this While the importance of good early childhood education has been known for a long time, the draft New Education Policy (released in June 2019) links the “severe learning crisis” to what goes on with young children in India. The voluminous policy document points out that close...

-The Hindu Owing to low health insurance coverage in India, especially for the poor, households have to dip into their savings or borrow to meet hospital bills A majority of Indians did not have health insurance as of 2017-18. Coverage levels varied widely based on ‘wealth classes’. The poorest were the least covered as they mostly depended on government schemes, while the richest fared better and relied more on private insurance Abysmal coverage Among...

-Livemint.com Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha have seen sharp increases in poverty rates over the past few years, an analysis of the national statistical office data suggests Ever since India moved to a high growth trajectory in the 1980s, poverty rates have consistently declined over time. Until now. A Mint analysis of the consumption expenditure numbers reported by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in a hushed-up report suggests that rural poverty rose nearly 4...