Allocation for a child in anganwadi in State is Rs. 4 a day With food prices going northward, a cup of coffee in Bangalore, on an average, costs Rs. 10 today. In such a situation, how well can a child in an anganwadi in Karnataka be fed on an allocation of Rs. 4 per day? While anganwadi workers in Karnataka are struggling to provide nutritious diet to children on Rs. 3.90 (with...

-The Hindu   ‘The argument that too many people are coming forward to claim benefits is flawed' Aadhaar, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) project, cannot “fix” all that is wrong with the Public Distribution System, Abhijit Sen, member of the Planning Commission, said here on Saturday. The biometric identification and authentication project has been touted by the Planning Commission as a panacea for all issues that plague the Public Distribution System (PDS),...

There is a rush to cash in on micronutrient deficiency in India through fortification of food Andhra Pradesh Foods, a state government enterprise, is ramping up its fortified food production capacity. It provides ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods like upma mix, sweet porridge and khichdi mix, fortified with iron, zinc and other vitamins, to infants and pregnant and lactating women under the Centre’s Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). The effort to double its...

Rural women entrepreneurs in Rajasthan produce a nutritious food supplement as take home rations for pregnant mothers and underfed infants   There is very little that distinguishes the hamlet of Madri from the innumerable others that dot southern Rajasthan. This is a region where the Aravallis make their presence felt in gnarled hillocks, where water is scarce and where the land yields its harvests grudgingly. People here, including toddlers, know well the edge...

Jharkhand’s milky way to good health is in serious jeopardy. All the 13 dairy samples collected from Ranchi last month have tested low on nutrients, corroborating a report collated by a central agency that suggested large-scale adulteration of milk. Though the state food controller has ruled out hazardous chemical contaminants, the veracity of his statement will be determined when the detailed laboratory report comes out on Monday. Alarmed by the Food Safety...