Think India Foundation

Malnutrition in Karnataka : panel suggests ways for better coordination

BANGALORE : Re-survey of severely malnourished children recommended

Only about 55 per cent of children aged between 0 and 6 are covered under ICDS, says the report. File photo: K. Gopinathan

A committee set up to study child malnutrition in Karnataka has recommended several institutional mechanisms to improve coordination between the departments of Women and Child Development and Health and Family Welfare, the lack of which has resulted in “overlapping goals with accountability at stake.” Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Chronic malnutrition puts almost half a billion children at risk

Westport - Chronic malnutrition, a deadly and widespread crisis largely overlooked in the face of food scarcity, currently impacts one in four children across the globe and places almost half a billion children at risk of permanent damage within the next 15 years.

A new report by Save the Children, A Life Free from Hunger: Tackling Child Malnutrition (pdf), reveals chronic malnutrition, the lack of proper nutrition over time, if far more extensive than short-term acute malnutrition frequently associated with food crises. Read more

Source : digitaljournal.com

In Asia-Pacific, health poses challenge to 2015 goals

DELHI — Sixty percent of the world’s population lives in the Asia-Pacific, which makes its performance critical to achieving the global Millennium Development Goals by 2015.  It stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kirabati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south. 

The latest assessment, however, indicates that the region is performing poorly on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. In 2010, over 3 million children died before their fifth birthday. Read more

Source : smartplanet.com

In wasting children, a richer India sees "national shame"

(Reuters) - Crying as she is put on an electronic scale, two-year-old Rajini's naked shrivelled frame casts a dark shadow over a rising India, where millions of children have little to eat.

Severely malnourished two-year-old girl Rajni is weighed by health workers at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre of Shivpuri district,Madhya Pradesh 

The children are scrawny, listless and sick in this run-down nutrition clinic in Madhya Pradesh with its intermittent power supply. If they survive they will grow up shorter, weaker and less smart than their better-fed peers. Read more

Source : in.reuters.com

24 percent Indian kids go hungry daily: Survey

New Delhi : Nearly 30 percent of Indian families have been forced to cut back on food due to rising prices, while around a quarter of kids go without food the whole day, according to an NGO. A study on food inflation and its impact on eating habits, conducted by Save the Children, was conducted in five countries.

"It is shocking that parents are telling that they cannot buy food for their children because of high prices. This is destructive for the child's development as malnutrition is fatal and contributes to child mortality," Jasmine Whitbread, Save the Children International CEO, told IANS. Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

It will not stop at Rs 60,000 crore

How economically sustainable is food subsidy? The cost could even be double of what the government estimates

Food deprivation and malnutrition are completely unacceptable and everything has to be done to eliminate such an evil. The prevalence of malnutrition in a country like India is in itself a cause for serious concern since malnourished children may jeopardise India’s favourable demographic dividend (as per independent estimates, close to 60 per cent of India’s population is in the age group of 15-59 years). However, the question is whether we can afford to have a food subsidy bill (FSB) and if such an endeavour is economically sustainable. This paper tries to argue that the fiscal viability of the proposed FSB is not clear and the delivery outcomes could be highly compromised given the governance weaknesses and ineffective delivery mechanisms in place. Read more

Source : indianexpress.com

Hunger and riches coexist in India

A national daily presented the other day two contrasting pictures of India. On its front page were the findings of a research indicating the extent of hunger and malnourishment in the country and in one of the inside pages was a report on the explosion on its roads with millions of private vehicles causing traffic jams in its urban centres. One wonders whether these contrasting pictures in a single edition of a daily have caught the attention of those who frame and implement the country’s economic policies. They show, if anything, the growing economic inequality in the country, which can directly be attributed to the policies pursued since economic liberalisation. The government has taken some initiatives to deal with the pervasive hunger and malnutrition but the measures that have been taken seem to have failed to yield the desired results. Read more

Source : groundreport.com

Affordable Southern remedies for better health

When can a baby girl born in Madhya Pradesh expect to live as long and healthy as a baby girl born in Kerala, overcoming the six-fold higher risk of dying before her first birthday? When will a rural Indian have the same level of satisfaction about the healthcare he or she receives, as a foreign medical tourist featured in the brochures of corporate hospitals? Will the 40 million Indians, who are annually pushed into poverty because of unaffordable healthcare costs, be relieved of the crushing burden of catastrophic health expenditures in a country where private, out-of-pocket spending accounts for 71 per cent of all health financing?

Kerala and Tamil Nadu can teach the rest of the country about good health at low cost.

While the Indian media is currently concerned over the fluctuating growth rates of the economy, it is the health indicators which should cause considerable concern. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

An organizational problem

Child malnutrition makes headlines but unless grass-roots practices are reordered, it’ll remain a persistent problem

With the release of new malnutrition statistics and the Food Security Bill gaining ground, I am tempted to ask the following question to all those working on the issue including the chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC):

“Have you ever spent a day at an anganwadi?”

Photo by Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint.

Anganwadis, or crèches, are the backbone of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme initiated in 1975. ICDS targets infant children and pregnant mothers to tackle the problem of malnutrition, infant and maternal mortality and immunization. And yes, like any other mega social welfare scheme, millions of rupees are doled out every year for fortified grains, oil, fruit, etc., to be made available to poor young children and their mothers. Read more

Source : livemint.com

Republic of contradictions

"Over half of the world’s most polluted cities are in India. Because of the poor quality of air, 18,000 premature deaths occur each year in its metropolises."

Sixty three years ago, Dr B.R. Ambedkar spoke of the “life of contradictions” into which the Indian Republic would enter on January 26, 1950. He underlined the need for eliminating, at the earliest, the contradictions in the social and economic sphere lest they should imperil our political freedom and democracy. Were he to come alive today, he would be appalled to see the extent to which the contradictions have deepened and, that too during the period when the Republic saw one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

A report by the Naadi Foundation on Hunger and Malnutrition, which was released by the Prime Minister on January 11, 2012, has brought out that “59 per cent of the Indian children, between the age group of 0-5 years, have stunted growth, 42 per cent are underweight and 11 per cent suffer from wasting disease”. Every year, 13 lakh children die before reaching their first birthday, and about 55,000 women lose their life consequent upon birth-related complications. Read more

Source : asianage.com

Social inequality the real culprit in India’s ‘shameful’ malnutrition problem

It’s the grim statistic that just won’t budge: new child malnutrition numbers are out for India, and there is no good news to be had.

The exhaustive door-to-door survey covered a fifth of India’s children and found that 42.3 per cent of children under the age of five are underweight for their age, 58.8 per cent are stunted and 11.4 per cent are so severely underfed as to be considered “wasted.” Read more

Source : theglobeandmail.com

No shortcuts, please

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began 2012 by delivering two significant speeches. He spoke at the Indian Science Congress on January 3 and on January 10, released a report by some NGOs and corporates on the status of hunger and malnutrition in the country. Though the two speeches were on divergent issues,put together, they convey a disturbing approach towards realising India's potential. 

Invoking the legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (whose 125th birth anniversary is on December 22, 2012) and Satyendranath Bose (the elusive search for a sub-atomic elementary particle bearing his name, Boson, that may revolutionise humanity's understanding of our universe, continues at the CERN laboratory's Large Hadron Collider experiment), the PM ended by candidly admitting that India's spending on scientific research and development (R&D) is "too low and stagnant". At present, we spend less than 0.9% of our GDP on R&D. The PM bemoaned that China has left us behind on this and urged that we should spend at least 2% of our GDP on R&D by the end of the 12th Plan period. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

India’s Chronic Battle With Malnutrition

“It is unrealistic to expect any major breakthroughs in dealing with the diets of impoverished Indians,” a correspondent wrote in The New York Times in an article on Oct. 23, 1981.

Malnutrition in India is worse than in many African nations, stunting the growth of children like this girl in Shivpuri, photographed in November 2008.

While the words were written thirty years ago, they might have been written this week. Read more

Source : india.blogs.nytimes.com

Big child nutrition problem in AP: Report

HYDERABAD: That 42% of the country's children are malnourished is a statistic that finds stark reflection in Andhra Pradesh. While the state did not figure in the Naandi Foundation study, the latest findings by National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) note that 38.8% children in AP, in the age group 1-5 years, are undernourished. And, an alarming 48.1% of children have stunted growth, according to the 2010-11 study that is presently being finalised.

The NIN's National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau carried out the study in AP, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra for a population of 5,000 pre-school children. It found that, overall, 45.6% of the children in rural areas are underweight and undernourished with 49.6% of them showing stunted growth. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

80% kids below five are malnourished in Bihar

PATNA: PM Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said levels of under-nutrition in the country were "unacceptably high" despite impressive GDP growth, and did not hesitate in accepting that malnutrition is a national shame.

The pronouncement resonates in the state even though several health indicators have shown an upward trend, including high vaccination percentage, for which chief minister Nitish Kumar became the first recipient of the Gates Vaccine Innovation Award. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Nutrition surprise in rich kids

New Delhi : Even wealthy children show signs of poor nutrition in some Indian states, according to a new report on child malnutrition from a non-government organisation released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today.

Nutrition not just a problem among poor children

The report, based on a survey across 100 districts in six states with poor child development indicators, has shown that child malnutrition is widespread — 42 per cent of children under five years of age are underweight, and 59 per cent are stunted, or are shorter than their ideal height. Read more

Source : telegraphindia.com

Child malnutrition in India a "national shame" –PM

NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - India's "unacceptably high" levels of child malnutrition are a "national shame", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday, adding that almost half the children in the country were still under-weight despite two decades of rapid economic growth.

A malnourished child waits for food at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre in Sheopur district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh April 6, 2010. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause

Despite doubling the size of its economy between 1990 and 2005, Asia's third-largest economy has not yet been able to wipe out the mass hunger which still haunts rural landscapes and lurks in the alley ways of urban slums. Read more

Source : trust.org

Food security Bill: Instead of subsidies to food grains, policy should aim to increase purchasing power

While some may view the food security Bill as the instrument of combating poverty, this distinction belongs to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the flagship anti-poverty programme of the United Progressive Alliance government. The proponents of the food security Bill at the National Advisory Council have promoted it as the instrument of fighting widespread and rising hunger, instead.

But what is the empirical basis of the claims of widespread and rising hunger in India? Surely, we cannot go bythe claims of the Food and Agricultural Organization, World Bank and many NGOs who themselves prosper from propagating the view that India and Africa suffer from ever-rising hunger and poverty. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Mixed bag for Karnataka’s farmers

''Research in agriculture might have grown manifold. But do we have an invention that can produce grains and pulses in factories? Efforts to eradicate hunger and create interest in agriculture should happen simultaneously,'' farm scientist Mallanna Nagaral questions the relevance of the Global Agri-Investors’ Meet held in Bangalore at the beginning of this month.

The meet might have enhanced the credit flow to the agricultural sector, but will it help farmers in any way?

This year left its own footprints on the agriculture sector in the State. Farmers of Halligudi in Gadag who were dreaming of a good harvest after the first phase of Singatalur Lift Irrigation project was complete, were shocked to realise that the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, the mandated agency of the State government, wanted to acquire more than 3,000 acres for a major steel plant. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

Infrastructure needs a more holistic approach

Consistency in policy, collaboration are crucial for initiatives in various sectors bring desired results, say panellists

Mumbai: India needs to look at infrastructure development holistically to enjoy sustainable development, executives and analysts said on Monday at the India Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum in Mumbai.

Only countries that have simultaneously developed various forms of infrastructure, including education, health, information technology, transport, drinking water and sanitation, among others, have been successful, said Ravi Sharma, chief executive of Adani Power Ltd. Read more

 

by Bloomberg

Source : livemint.com

Feeding with lies

When there is no additional storage space, how will more production of food grains help? Will it too not go waste?

Although prime minister Manmohan Singh considers rising food inflation to be a sign of growing prosperity, the reality is very harsh and painful. Rising food inflation, which continues for the 4th successive year now, has hit the aam aadmi like never before. Adding fuel to fire is the periodic rise in petrol prices.  

For over four years now, at every media discussion that I am invited to, I am appalled at the economic ignorance that prevails. They go on harping again and again on what the textbooks would prescribe as the plausible reasons behind any runaway inflation. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

Seven billion possibilities

Increasing population is not the only problem, and shouldn’t be blamed for all our problems. Our future will depend upon the choices we make and the ideas we generate

We crossed the one billion mark in the early 19th ce­ntury. We took a ce­ntury and a qu­arter to become two billion, and only 30 years to add another one billion. The symbolic seven billionth citizen of the world is just born in India. By 2045, the world is projected to reach nine billion. Are these numbers intimidating? Yes and No.

On the one hand, our natural resources are depleting. Billions are undernourished and still going hungry. On the other, people are living longer: Better nutrition and sanitation has im­proved life ex­pectancy, fewer children are dying, and fertility rates are going down. Read more

 

Source : mydigitalfc.com

NaMo proposes, PM disposes

Narendra Modi’s report on controlling prices gathers dust.

In 21st century India we have an expanding underclass, the masses who are wretchedly poor and desperately hungry. The rich live in their plush ivory towers, the middle-classes remain cocooned in their tacky drawing rooms, the rest languish in abject misery. The rich aspire for the moon, the middle-classes aspire to become rich, the miserably impoverished aspire to earn Rs 26 a day so that they can crawl above the poverty line. We have our version of the ‘Poor Law’, drafted by the Army of the Virtuous also known as the National Advisory Council, headed by Ms Sonia Gandhi, and implemented by a Government which has a surfeit of ‘economists’, including one who presides over a decrepit and corrupt regime. It’s called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It’s also the latest means of politicians and babus pocketing cash meant for the poor, a fact established in State after State, including Odisha whose allegedly squeaky clean Chief Minister can reportedly do no wrong. Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

Gujarat among worst in fighting malnutrition

New Delhi: The Human Development Report has said that high economic growth is no guarantee in reducing malnutrition.

According to the report, Gujarat is the worst among the high per-capita states in the country in fighting malnutrition. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

FM confident about India’s high growth trajectory

The Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee has exuded confidence that the country will attain 8.5 to 9 percent growth in the medium to long term.

The statement assumes significance in the wake of slowing economy in West and a sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

Inaugurating a function to mark the Silver Jubilee celebrations of India and Asian Development Bank partnership, in New Delhi today, Mr. Mukherjee, however, cautioned that India has to be on alert and respond to the emerging challenges and concerns to achieve the desired objectives. Read more

Source : newsonair.nic.in

Much more needed to help the poor

The government stands accused of not only corruption but also Marie Antoinette-style insensitivity

THE DEVELOPMENT DEBATE

 Today is the “International Day for the Eradication of Poverty”, so it an appropriate day to note how necessary it still is to emphasise this concern among Indian policy makers.

Sadly, lack of official awareness is evident in all sorts of recent policy measures, for example in the cynicism of increasing oil prices that feed into all other prices with cascading effects, even when inflation has already imposed huge burdens on living conditions of people especially the poor. But it is also evident in the medium term strategy of the Union government, as expressed in the Planning Commission’s Approach to the Twelfth Plan. Consider the complacency of this: “The pace of poverty reduction has accelerated, though it may still be short of the target. India is well poised to meet the MDG (Millennium Development Goals) target of 50 percent reduction of poverty between 1990 and 2015.” This assessment comes, of course, from a mechanistic and disturbing reliance on a unidimensional measure of income poverty, defined on the basis of a poverty line that has already come in for much public flak. Read more

Source : livemint.com

India's longest railway tunnel excavated in J-K

Srinagar (PTI) : The Kashmir rail link project took a significant leap today with the completion of excavation work of a 11km-long tunnel, the longest in the country, underneath the rugged Pir Panjal mountains. The Pir Panjal tunnel, which constitutes a vital link between Udhampur and Qazigund of the national project, runs below the existing Jawahar road tunnel and promises to reduce the travelling distance between Banihal and Qazigund from 35 km to only 11 km.

"It is one of the modern tunnels of the world, which also has provision for a 10-feet wide parallel road running adjacent to the rail track for carrying out rescue work," said Member (Engineering), Railway Board, A P Mishra this afternoon. Given its length, proper ventilation has been provided and measures will be taken to provide mobile connectivity for seamless communication even while travelling through it, he said, adding the entire tunneling work will be completed within six to seven months. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Urban poor or tribal children, hunger stalks them everywhere

It’s not every day that you would associate the words ‘food diary’ with children and young people living on the streets. After all to maintain one they would need food to begin with.

Survival tales: The way many children survive in India calls for serious introspection of our development model

 

Child Rights and You (CRY) volunteers, in their many years of working with children in situations of poverty, realised that the general public don’t really understand what hunger means for children. Read more

Source : theweekendleader.com

 

Economists flay Plan panel’s new definition of poverty lines

New Delhi : Leading economists have flayed the national poverty lines set by the Planning Commission at Rs 32 and Rs 26 per capita, per day for urban and rural areas, respectively.

In a statement, released here on Monday, the economists said it was counterproductive to link the official poverty estimates to basic entitlements of the people, especially access to food. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

‘Food Security Bill not enough to eradicate hunger in India'

New Delhi : Even as the Government has released draft of the National Food Security Bill, experts from world's largest humanitarian organisation have said that the proposed legislation alone will not be sufficient to wipe out hunger from India and more needs to done for ensuring food to poor families.

Noting that world across over one billion people go hungry to bed including in India, they have suggested a holistic approach to secure livelihood for poor and sufficient food grains production for achieving the goal of the Food Security Bill. Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

India faces new epidemic with 60 million people morbidly obese

India's economy may have been booming in recent years but so have the waistlines of those enjoying such dramatic growth.

As a result a country more usually associated with famine is facing an unexpected epidemic with 5 per cent of population 60 million people -- now morbidly obese. Read more

Source : theaustralian.com.au

India’s food security at ‘high risk’: Study

These countries, along with much of Sub-Saharan Africa, are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. A new study assessing the availability and stability of food supplies in 196 countries has rated the food security of India at ‘high risk,’ whilst Somalia, DR Congo and countries in the drought stricken Horn of Africa are topping the global ranking. Read more   Source : indiainfoline.com

Media pressure may help speed up food security moves

More than two years have passed and there seems to be no progress worth speaking about in making the promised law that will guarantee food for the people. The promise came from the UPA-2 as part of its election manifesto in 2009. It was a time of recovery from a time of economic troubles. The impact of the global economic slowdown came on top of the agrarian crisis and the closure of several industrial undertakings, resulting in the loss of jobs and wage cuts that impoverished thousands of workers.

Economists have warned of yet another economic crisis, which may turn out to be more severe than the 2008 financial crisis and recession. Nearer home, the Reserve Bank of India has warned of higher inflation and a slowdown in economic growth. The food inflation rate is dangerously close to 10 per cent. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

Food Security takes roots in Chhattisgarh

Raipur : It has been over ten years since the formation of one amongst the newest states in the Indian Union, carved out of Madhya Pradesh. Chhattisgarh is rich in mineral wealth, forest cover and home to a predominantly tribal population.

Its unique cultural and social practices, the way peoples lives are so entwined with the forests is a fascinating study in itself. Read more

Source : newstrackindia.com 

Failure of mid-day meals in Orissa

Bhubaneswar : When Ranjan Naik, a Class 2 student of Paljore village in Orissa’s Kalahandi district, returned to school on June 17 after summer vacation, he did not get his mid-day meal. The meals did not materialise for about a month-and-a-half. Like Naik, many schoolchildren in Kalahandi as well as Malkangiri and Keonjhar, two other tribal-dominated districts, did not get the meals during this duration.

According to 2010-2011 figures, out of 5.7 million schoolchildren covered under the school meal programme in Orissa, the three backward districts account for 568,555 children. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Daily necessities, habits and luxuries

Ever wondered, what happens when Mr. Zukerberg withdraws his facebook? What happens when the telecom service providers withdraw the internet and mobile services?

When the artificial satellites choke up functioning? Aircrafts stand still? Cross border uranium transfers freeze? Or even the food joint of Mc Donald’s lock up their shutters?

What an absurd question! Read more

 

 

 

Source : oyetimes.com

BRP Bhaskar: Quest for food security

The Indian government has drawn up a bill to ensure food security but human rights defenders fear that, if enacted, it will render the poor more vulnerable than at present.

A food security law was among the election pledges made by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in the 2009 elections. Some party leaders believe its enactment may help the scam-hit government to improve its image. Read more

Source : gulftoday.ae

India grows enough food, but malnutrition rate is terrible

Re: Generous response to food crisis a drop in the global bucket, Column, July 28

Don Cayo notes India and China have made huge gains in economic development and wealth creation yet are still "home to 40 per cent of the world's hungry people."

India is by far the worst of the two, according to an article in the New York Times (As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists, March 12, 2009). Read more

Source : vancouversun.com

Are the world’s poorest of the poor getting hungrier?

Lately there has been a lot of anguish about the rise in world food prices and how this has affected the nutrition of the poorest. A number of things are to blame for the price rise- although usually only wheat, rice and soya beans are measured. In some regions it is bad weather, in particular in the Horn of Africa where there is now a famine; the rise in oil prices which has led to a rise in the price of fertiliser; the growth of biofuels  -  the US now uses 40 per cent of its corn for these.

 As long ago as 1974 when grain prices had just quadrupled all the nations of the world promised that by the end of the century “no child would go to bed hungry”. After a steady increase in aid for agriculture for a number of years the momentum slowed. Read more

Source : thecitizen.co.tz

Black holes in the model of 'Resurgent Bihar'

Patna : Since the beginning of his second term in office, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his administration have taken pains to promote the image of a 'Resurgent Bihar'.

Official statements rely on data quoting the figures of economic growth from 3.5 percent in 2004-05 to 10.93 percent in 2010-11. Read more

Source : dailyindia.com

Chennai population set to cross 10 million

Chennai : As World Population Day 2011 is celebrated on July 11, this year’s theme - “Calling Attention to Urgent Global Issues” - is meant to be a clarion call to governments, organizations, communities and individuals to understand population issues worldwide and to galvanise them into action.

In the case of the burgeoning population of Tamil Nadu, Chennai has attracted most of the migrant population from both rural and urban areas. Read more

Source : deccanchronicle.com

The other side of Mumbai

Water: A scarce commodity in Mumbai slums. Photo: Rahi Gaikwad

In India's financial capital, almost 25,000 children under five die every year due to malnutrition and related illnesses. Whatever happened to the National Urban Health Mission?

The time of the year does not matter here. Monsoon or summer, the plastic cans are waiting for the waterman to arrive in Rafi Nagar, a slum settlement situated in Govandi, in the north-eastern area of Mumbai. In a city where space is at a premium, this settlement sits on top of its refuse. Every day, hundreds of tonnes of Mumbai's leftovers are dumped here. The garbage pile is regularly flattened to make space for the constant demand for shelter. Rafi Nagar is part of Shivaji Nagar, a resettlement colony that hosts the constant stream of migrants flowing into the city. The floors of the makeshift shacks are covered with cardboard sheets to keep the garbage down. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

India is a land of rich and hungry, says report

New Delhi : Though India will be able to meet the Millennium Development Goal in reducing poverty to half by 2015, it has to work hard to meet the goal of reducing hunger and unemployment.

The country has improved in providing good maternal health care and in reducing the infant mortality rate. The country has now more school going children. Read more Source : deccanherald.com

 

People's Participation Key to Good Governance: Prez

Citizens' participation is the key to ensuring good governance and better administration of our cities, President Pratibha Patil said here today.

"A city depends as much upon its planners and administrators as on the people dwelling in it, who essentially determine its character. Hence, it is incorrect to say that it is for the government alone to take action," Patil said. Read more

Source : news.outlookindia.com

India faltering on poverty alleviation

People, Left, Right or Centre, would possibly agree that an internally weak country can’t negotiate with the rest of the world from a position of strength. Internal strength of a country cannot be measured just in terms of resources at its disposal, military power, technological expertise and production capacity. Strength of its people is a country’s biggest asset. Economic empowerment of the masses is critical to emergence of a strong India.

Waking up to this reality like the rest of the world, India became a signatory to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 1990. The first goal is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day. In 1990, 37.5 per cent of Indian people were living below the poverty line, measured by the old standards. The bigger goal is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Why children in rural India don't go to school

Twenty-first-century India often resembles the Dickensian tale of two cities. For some, it is the best of times; for millions of others, living in the shadow of prosperity, survival is a daily struggle. The levels of inequality are staggering. While India's economy continues to soar, with the IMF projecting its growth rate to be 8.4% in 2011, West Bengal remains one of the poorest states in the country. Nearly 11% of families in West Bengal face starvation during several months of the year. Small wonder then that parents – who work as domestic servants, rickshaw drivers, hawkers on local trains and in other unskilled occupations – are keen to take their children out of education and send them to the Employment Exchange. Teenagers can be enrolled here with a certificate stating that they have been educated up to 14 years. These parents are often illiterate themselves. Read more

Source : guardian.co.uk 

India’s challenge to fight malnutrition

Lack of original thinking in agriculture sector is a big drawback in our country.

The latest World Bank Report on India, “Undernourished children - a call for reform and action,” finds the number of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world. The report says approximately 60 million children are underweight in India.  According to the NSSO report one out of three women in India are underweight. The RBI Annual Report 2006-07, finds the per capita availability of food grains in India has fallen to the levels prevailing during 1970s. As per World Bank report 50 per cent of Indians still live on less than $ 1.25 a day. Read more Source : deccanherald.com

 

NAC approves draft National Food Security Bill

New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) on Wednesday approved the draft National Food Security Bill, 2011 which aims to make provision of food support to people facing hunger a duty of the state. 

With the draft bill prepared by the Working Group on Food Security being legally vetted by a government law officer, the Council will now be sent it to the government. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

Indian agricultural infrastructure deperately needs overhauling

SHIVTHAR (Maharashtra): Ajit Govind Sable's family have owned their farm in western Maharashtra for 10 generations, which even for a region that has been farming for more than 10,000 years is long enough to witness plenty of changes.

Two generations back, they started cultivating sugar cane here in Shivthar, a village in Maharashtra's highlands near the Krishna river. India's most industrialised state soon became its largest sugar producer. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

New Delhi Starts Drive To Root Out Hunger

NEW DELHI — From the field to the table, India is setting in motion a drive to stop rampant food waste that could feed millions of people who going hungry despite successive years of strong farm output.

A worker showed damaged wheat grains at a storage facility on the outskirts of Jalandhar, September 2, 2010.

Narinder Nanu/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The government has appointed a 15-member panel to suggest ways of curbing waste as well as overcoming distribution hurdles that plague its bulging cities. The committee's first meeting will be held June 23, a food ministry official said Wednesday. Read more

Source : online.wsj.com