Centre will implement it on a pilot basis in 52 districts To improve maternal and child health, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) — a monetary scheme for pregnant women and lactating mothers — on a pilot basis in 52 districts in this Five-Year Plan. Each pregnant and lactating woman will receive Rs. 4,000 in three instalments between the second trimester of...

Malnutrition or due to socio-economic reasons and backwardness? Ninety-eight children under six died of various causes in Maharashtra's Melghat region in September alone. While confirming this, Amravati district health officer S.K. Yelurkar told The Hindu that there was no outbreak of any illness and the deaths were due to “routine socio-economic reasons and the backwardness of the region.” The forested region, comprising Dharni and Chikhaldara taluks, is largely inhabited by Korku Adivasis...

India’s performance at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 has been its best so far – second on the medals list.However, another kind of ‘competition’ ranked 84 countries in accordance with achievements in a different field this week. India was a lowly 67th. The field was hunger, measured by combining the proportion of people undernourished, the proportion of underweight children and the child mortality rate. The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2010 –...

At August 30 meet, it was felt there should be a system of two prices, differential entitlements Since then, NAC Working Group on Food Security has had detailed discussions The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) may be close to finalising the contentious Food Security Bill when it meets here on September 24. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and officials from Ministries concerned, including Women and Child Development Secretary, will be...

‘Institutional delivery wrong measure of maternal health' Approximately 1.83 million children under five die every year As world leaders gather in New York to debate how countries have fared on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), nearly 15,000 children under five will die in India — mostly from treatable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and complications at birth. Save the Children, a non-profit organisation working for children, has urged India to show leadership...