The problem of malnutrition is multi-dimensional and inter-generational in nature, the determinants of which include household food insecurity, illiteracy and lack of awareness especially in women, access to health services, availability of safe drinking water, sanitation and proper environmental conditions and adequate purchasing power etc. The nutritional status of the population is the outcome of complex and inter-related set of factors and cannot be improved by the efforts of single sector or action alone.
The Government accords high priority to the overall issue of malnutrition, particularly, in respect of children, adolescent girls and women and has been implementing several schemes/ programmes of different Ministries/Departments through State Governments/UTs. These schemes, interalia, include Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Mid Day Meals Scheme, Drinking Water & Total Sanitation Campaign, Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), Targeted Public Distribution System etc. Several of the schemes namely, ICDS, NRHM, Mid Day meal (MDM), SGSY have been expanded to provide for increased coverage and improved services to the people.
To reach out the six services including supplementary nutrition to children below six years, pregnant and lactating mothers the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme has been universalised with special focus on SC/ST and minority habitation. There has been revision in cost norms as well as the Nutritional and Feeding norms of the Supplementary Nutrition component of ICDS.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Proposal to Create a National Text Book Council
A Committee of Central Advisory Board of Education on “Regulatory Mechanism for Textbooks and Parallel Textbooks taught in schools outside Government system” has recommended establishment of “National Textbook Council” to monitor textbooks used in schools in the country so that standard of education could be maintained and the student community is not exposed to inferior quality of textbooks or undesirable content. A proposal has been circulated among the State Governments seeking their opinion.
Rajiv Awas Yojana
Learning from the experience of JNNURM, the Government has announced the bold vision of a Slum-free India through Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). RAY envisages central support to States that are willing to assign property rights to slum dwellers. RAY would adopt a ‘whole city’, ‘whole slum’ strategy with city as the unit unlike JNNURM which turned out to be a ‘pick and choose’ approach towards slum redevelopment.
RAY would have a two-pronged strategy. The first is to bring the existing slums within the formal system and enable them to avail of the same level of basic amenities as the rest of the town. The second is to undertake measures to prevent the creation of new slums through appropriate urban land policy and restructuring of the master planning model.
There is a dire need to address the issues of faulty urban land policy and urban planning models responsible for mushrooming of slums. Current land policies would need drastic changes to address the interests of the urban poor. The States need to re-look at the policies of making land and living space available to the masses in cities, especially the poor at a much faster rate than the pace of urban population growth.
Community mobilisation and participation in decision-making are also going to be an important element in RAY. RAY would also focus on enabling the urban poor to undertake housing construction and improvement programmes empowered by property right. RAY would also promote private sector participation and public private partnership for creation of affordable housing stock for the Low Income Groups. For all this, the poor will need to be enabled with access to housing and livelihoods finance.
Excerpts from speech by H'ble Housing & Urban poverty alleviation Min.
RAY would have a two-pronged strategy. The first is to bring the existing slums within the formal system and enable them to avail of the same level of basic amenities as the rest of the town. The second is to undertake measures to prevent the creation of new slums through appropriate urban land policy and restructuring of the master planning model.
There is a dire need to address the issues of faulty urban land policy and urban planning models responsible for mushrooming of slums. Current land policies would need drastic changes to address the interests of the urban poor. The States need to re-look at the policies of making land and living space available to the masses in cities, especially the poor at a much faster rate than the pace of urban population growth.
Community mobilisation and participation in decision-making are also going to be an important element in RAY. RAY would also focus on enabling the urban poor to undertake housing construction and improvement programmes empowered by property right. RAY would also promote private sector participation and public private partnership for creation of affordable housing stock for the Low Income Groups. For all this, the poor will need to be enabled with access to housing and livelihoods finance.
Excerpts from speech by H'ble Housing & Urban poverty alleviation Min.
SEBI Unified Platform for Electronic Reporting and Dissemination
SEBI has decided to set up a unified filing and dissemination system called SEBI Unified Platform for Electronic Reporting and Dissemination (SUPER-D).
The unified filing system is inter alia expected to enable listed companies and intermediaries registered with SEBI to make online filings of all regulatory requirements which can be accessed by the public.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question raised in Lok Sabha today.
The unified filing system is inter alia expected to enable listed companies and intermediaries registered with SEBI to make online filings of all regulatory requirements which can be accessed by the public.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question raised in Lok Sabha today.
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