-The Times of India JAIPUR: The " Rozi Roti Adhikar Yatra" (rally for right to food and employment) that was flagged off from Udaipur district on September 30, reached Jaipur on Saturday after traversing through six districts where it created awareness among people to fight for food security for all without distinction on economic criteria. Several other rallies in the state to demand an effective national food security legislation started from different...

-The Telegraph Union minister Kapil Sibal has promised measures to ensure that the Centre’s curbs on cooking-gas subsidy would not derail the Midday meal scheme that serves eight crore children in 12 lakh elementary schools. The Telegraph had reported on Wednesday that self-help groups had stopped preparing midday meals in over 50 primary schools in North 24-Parganas since Monday saying they could not afford the cylinders’ new price. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had...

-The Times of India PANAJI: Three cases of food poisoning were reported back-to-back last year after students consuming midday meals. This has forced authorities to keep a close watch on midday meal suppliers as well as school staff. The Union human resource development ministry began quarterly monitoring of the implementation of the Midday meal scheme in states and Union territories across the country since June last year. Goa has registered huge improvements...

ASHAs will continue to bear the burden of the government's rural health mission as a new order lists more incentive-based services. On May 31, a Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare order listed additional incentivised duties for accredited social health activists, or ASHAs, but was silent on the issue of regularisation of their employment. ASHAs, who bridge the gap between the rural population and the nearest health care outlets under...

-The Telegraph The Jharkhand government is uneasy, a bit tense even, about tomorrow’s visit to Saranda by Union minister Jairam Ramesh who has time and again made public his displeasure at the slow implementation of his development initiative in the former Naxalite hub of West Singhbhum. In his latest missive, sent to chief minister Arjun Munda on June 18, the architect of the Saranda Development Plan highlighted a number of “worrying” issues,...