-Outlook Social indices topper Kerala just can't stop the baby deaths in its malnutrition-hit tribal Attapady belt Under the thick canopy of a peepal tree, beside the road that winds to Pallur Ooru in Attapady in the Western Ghats, is a small tribal burial ground. There are no tombstones to mark the graves and on closer look one sees tiny mounds where the mud has been disturbed. In a quiet corner,...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Bihar midday meal tragedy raises concerns about food security bill
-Reuters Raipur/Patna: The deaths of at least 23 children who were poisoned after eating a free school meal has triggered an outcry over food safety just as the ruling Congress party is set to launch an ambitious plan to feed 800 million poor, with an eye on elections due within a year. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi‘s national subsidised food project includes free school meals and expands existing handouts to make it probably...
More »Now, 20-member panel to scrutinize midday meal quality
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In the aftermath of the Bihar mid-day meal (MDM) tragedy that resulted in the death of more than 20 children, the HRD ministry on Thursday announced setting up a new 20-member committee to go into the quality aspect of the MDM scheme nationwide. The committee, to be headed by HRD minister M M Pallam Raju, would have secretaries of ministries of women & child development, health,...
More »India's food security bill: an inadequate remedy?-Ravi S Jha
-The Guardian A landmark bill to make the right to food a legal entitlement is mired in controversy over its failure to address a flawed public food distribution system, misplaced priorities and exclusions India has an over abundance of food grains stocked in warehouses, yet millions of India's poor are left without food. Development practitioners and NGOs are in favour of disbanding the current food security system, the public distribution system (PDS),...
More »Unpalatable truths -K Srinath Reddy
-The Hindustan Times The recent release of The Lancet's special edition on Maternal and Child Nutrition in Delhi provided an occasion to debate the relevance of its recommendations for India. The discourse was enlivened by a statement, released ahead of the event by several Indian health experts, challenging the content and intent of some of the suggested interventions. Three authors of The Lancet series and many of the critics who issued that statement...
More »