-The Hindu Eminent sociologist Virginius Xaxa will be chairman of committee If UPA-I constituted the Sachar Committee to map the condition of Muslims in the country, on Saturday, UPA-II set up a high level committee on Saturday to prepare a position paper on the current socio-economic, health and educational status of tribals that will also "suggest policy initiatives as well as effective outcome-oriented measures to improve development indicators and strengthen public service...

-The Hindu     Women are essential for the success of schemes like the mid-day meal programme. Improving their wages and working conditions would be better than blaming them when things go wrong. Mahatma Gandhi once declared, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." By this yardstick, India does not fare well. Consider recent headlines alone: 23 Bihari children die after eating poisoned midday meals at their schools. Six-year-old...

-The Hindu Kozhikode (Kerala): The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has intervened in the problem of malnutrition deaths plaguing the tribal belts of Attappady in Palakkad district in the State. A letter written by T.K.A. Nair, Adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has urged Kerala Chief Secretary E.K. Bharat Bhushan to take preventive measures to find an amicable solution to the grave problem. (As many as 54 children have reportedly died owing to...

-The Business Standard The mid-day meal scheme cannot be blamed for the Chapra incident. It is a question of professionalising the administration and everyone doing his duty. N C Saxena, Food Commissioner appointed by the Supreme Court in the Right to Food case tells Sreelatha Menon.Edited excerpts: * Can the mid-day meal tragedy in Chapra be blamed on the decision to have separate kitchens for each school without a monitoring mechanism? The monitoring...

-Outlook Malnutrition, especially among children and in tribal areas, is nobody's priority 40-45 per cent of women in Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh are malnourished; their babies will likely be born so. 40-45 per cent of women in Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh are malnourished; their babies will likely be born so. *** What is it about the government that the starvation deaths of children don't jolt it out of its stupor?...