In the month of June this year, encephalitis related deaths in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district grabbed the headlines. Actually, most of the children, who were admitted or died at Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), hailed from East Champaran, Vaishali, Sitamarhi and Samastipur apart from Muzaffarpur. Unfortunately, till recently official data on the number of cases and deaths related to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) was unavailable for...

-The Hindu What the draft National Education Policy omits in its chapter on early childhood care and education The draft National Education Policy starts its opening sentence with a hitherto little-known fact: “The learning process for a child commences immediately at birth.” Many believe that children start learning only in school. It is true that language and numerical proficiency, and analytical skills, are attained in school, but the foundation for such a...

-TheWire.in With one of the highest undernutrition rates of children in urban areas, Delhi needs to tackle the issue of severely stunted children in the city who don't have access to proper infrastructure and facilities at local anganwadi centres. New Delhi: It is an early summer morning in North Delhi’s Kabir Basti. A dingy and crowded lane of the settlement, with puddles from water leakages in broken pipes, opens up to a...

-The Hindu Effective monitoring and implementation of programmes are required for the country to achieve its goal by 2022 In this election season, it is important to keep promises made not just to voters, but also those made to improve the lives of children, the future of the nation. Despite programme commitments since 1975, such as creating Integrated Child Development Services and national coverage of the mid-day meal scheme, India continues to...

-OutlookIndia.com While implementing the Mid Day Meal Scheme, there should be no difference on the issue of whether the child is in a government school or not. The Odisha government has launched several schemes, like the Millets Mission and Iron Plus Initiative, to boost nutrition among the people, especially children and the tribal population, and the state must work to ensure that none is left out from the Poshan Abhiyaan, an...