-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Bihar's midday meal tragedy is a case of the state not heeding the advice of monitoring institutions that have been warning HRD ministry and the state that all's not well with the flagship programme. Monitoring institution reports are discussed at programme approval meetings and referred to states. But there's no action. Monitoring bodies prepare a field report of 25% schools in a state each quarter. In...

-Outlook New Delhi: Over five lakh families in Delhi will be provided food grains initially under the ambitious food security programme which will be launched here on August 20, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who has already announced that Delhi will be the first city to roll out the scheme, today held lengthy meeting with top brass of her government to finalise modalities to...

-The New York Times Blog The right to food is finally becoming a lively political issue in India. Aware of the forthcoming national elections in 2014, political parties are competing to demonstrate - or at least proclaim - their commitment to food security. In a country where endemic undernutrition has been accepted for too long as natural, this is a breakthrough of sorts. The rhetoric, however, is not always matched by understanding...

-The New Indian Express Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has emerged among the strongest voices against the Food Security Bill, which is being pushed by the UPA government. She recently wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to exempt Tamil Nadu from the implementation of the ordinance that brought the Food Security Bill into force. Apart from the political overtones that such a request might be seen to have,...

-The Hindu The National Food Security Ordinance, which President Pranab Mukherjee signed into law last week, has been touted as especially attentive to the needs of women and children. A closer inspection of the Ordinance, however, suggests otherwise - its provisions in fact ignore the distinct socio-economic roles of women and children in society. Moreover, the Ordinance glosses over entire subsets of women and children, including those who are arguably the...