Considerable sections of the urban population may face serious food insecurity even while the urban economy grows. There is a need for urgent action on this front. Over the two decades of rapid growth of the Indian economy, the urban economy is generally perceived as having done very well. However, high urban economic growth need not by itself imply improved living standards for all urban residents. In particular, the recent and...

VISHAL, the son of a farm labourer in the west Indian state of Maharashtra, is almost four. He should weigh around 16kg (35lb). But scooping him up from the floor costs his nursery teacher, a frail woman in a faded sari, little effort. She slips Vishal’s scrawny legs through two holes cut in the corners of a cloth sack, which she hooks to a weighing scale. The needle stops at...

The Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls - Sabla - is likely to be launched in 200 select districts on November 14, celebrated as Children's Day in the country. The Scheme is aimed at addressing the multi-dimensional problems of adolescent girls between 11 and 18 years and would be implemented through the platform of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) projects and anganwadi centres. Over one crore girls are expected...

The country is set to emulate Gujarat in tracking pregnant women and children on a continuing basis through a constant monitoring of their health, nutrition and immunisation profile. Twenty-three officials of health and family welfare departments and National Informatics Centre (NIC) from eight states are participating in a three-day training workshop to familiarise themselves with the Gujarat Model of what is now popularly known as 'E-Mamta', an official spokesperson said here...

The goal of food for all can be achieved only through sustained efforts in producing, saving and sharing foodgrains. The Supreme Court of India has rendered great service by arousing public, professional and political concern about the co-existence of rotting grain mountains and mounting hungry mouths. In several African countries hunger is increasing because food is either not available in the market, or is too expensive for the poor. Food inflation...