-TheIndiaForum.in The worsening of poverty during the pandemic may well have led to a worrying spurt in marriages of girl children in India. The information available indicates that has happened, pushing back the progress of recent decades in reducing child marriages. The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted life for all groups in society. While attention has been focused on the direct effects of Covid-19 on hospitalisation and deaths, the ways in which it...

The National Food Security Act 2013 guarantees maternity benefit to the tune of Rs. 6,000/- per child by the Central Government for pregnant women and lactating mothers, barring those who are already availing such benefits while being in regular employment with the Central Government or State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings or under other laws. The NFSA 2013 also legally guarantees free meals for every pregnant woman and lactating mother...

-The Hindu The report, ‘My Body is My Own’, shows only 55% of women are fully empowered to make choices. Nearly half the women from 57 developing countries do not have the right to make decisions regarding their bodies, including using contraception, seeking healthcare or even on their sexuality, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) flagship State of World Population Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’ launched on...

-Frontline.in Ten million girls in India could drop out of secondary school due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Right to Education Forum policy brief. With 1.6 million girls aged 11 to 14 years currently out of school, the pandemic could disproportionately impact girls further by putting them at risk of early marriage, early Pregnancy, poverty, trafficking and violence. Released on January 24, the International Day of Education and National Girl...

-Down to Earth Northern plains region in India and Pakistan most impacted, meeting India’s air quality standard would have reduced loss by 7 per cent Pregnant women in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh exposed to poor-quality air may be at higher risk of stillbirths and miscarriages, according to a study published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal January 6 2020. Some 349,681 pregnancies were lost every year in these three South Asian countries due...