Bill has provision for free meals, besides an allowance of Rs 6,000 to all pregnant women. Ahead of assembly elections in seven states next year, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is planning a big push towards its social security agenda. For, its Cabinet note on Food Security Bill has incorporated a provision for free meals, besides a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for six months to all pregnant women and...

-The Hindu   The Finance Ministry had approved the changes in the draft National Food Security Bill that were incorporated after taking the views of the Department of Women and Child Development as well as those posted on the Food Ministry's website, Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas said on Thursday. The Ministry would soon bring to the Cabinet a revised draft after incorporating the comments of the Ministries...

They are the children of migrant labourers, security guards, maids and gardeners for whom access to formal education would have been a distant goal, had it not been for two women who started teaching them under a tree in Sector 56, two years ago. The twosome are effectively giving these underprivileged children their right to education without any fanfare. From a measly five-six students, their number has now grown to...

-The Hindustan Times   Of the 72 students of Budhamunda Village Primary School in Belpada block, just half line up for morning prayers in their crumpled, unwashed uniform. What about the rest? “Many of my friends have migrated with their parents to work in brick kilns. I will also follow them in a few days,” said Dipakanta Pradhan (10), a student of class 3. The scene was the same at an anganwadi (mother and child)...

The word ‘hunger’ does not appear in the 12th Plan Approach Paper even once, whereas according to the latest Global Hunger Index Report, India continues to be in the category of those nations where hunger is ‘alarming’. What is worse, India is one of the three countries where the hunger index between 1996 and 2011 has gone up from 22.9 to 23.7, while 78 out of the 81 developing countries...