The National Advisory Council (NAC) member spoke on why the government’s food security bill is a "disappointment" National Advisory Council (NAC) member Harsh Mander spoke to Outlook on why the government’s food security bill is a “disappointment”. Excerpts: Did you expect the NAC’s draft of the food security bill to be accepted by the government? There is a huge difference between what we suggested and what has been incorporated in the government...

-The Indian Express   Any common man with a little common sense can understand that a person cannot afford to consume 2,400 calories on an average income of Rs 20 or Rs 10 per day, the Supreme Court said on Friday, raising doubts about the government’s norms for providing food security to vulnerable sections like the Below Poverty Line (BPL) population. Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma said the Planning Commission’s calculation...

As it is drafted, the Bill actually deprives people, and the State governments, of existing rights on multiple counts. The Food Security Bill finalised by a Group of Ministers should not be accepted by Parliament in its present form. The overriding negative features of the proposed legislation far outweigh its positive initiatives. The framework itself is questionable since the Central government usurps all powers to decide the numbers, criteria and schemes...

The Supreme Court on Friday appeared doubtful about pressing the government to give cash “incentives” under a centrally sponsored scheme to poor women pregnant from child marriages, saying this may be seen as “encouraging” the social crime. “If Government of India gives incentives, will it not mean that it is encouraging child marriages.... We cannot give approval to child marriages,” a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma observed. The...

-The Hindu   Over 55 per cent of children in the age group 0-2 do not receive comprehensive immunisation in the country and approximately 2.7 million children under five do not receive any treatment for diarrhoea, a major killer of children. Among 25 developing countries, India has the highest number of children who do not receive even the most basic of healthcare services, according to new research by Save the Children. It also...