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Dear Reader,
The Global Hunger Index(GHI) 2022, published recently, saw India's position slip to 107 from 101 out of 121 countries, behind neighbours like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The Index was panned by some in India for conflating the distinction between nutrition and hunger.
However, The India Forum argues that while the GHI’s methodology may have been weak, it should not thwart a public discussion of the abysmal state of nutrition of India’s children. The issues of the continued malnutrition of our children should exercise the minds of the highest in the land.
From the Valley, Kashmir Observer reports that the Back to Village programme has infused new life into the Panchayat institutions. Not only is there a new steam in the affairs of the Panchayat, but the exercise has become more participatory and even democratic.
MediaNama analyses Freedom House’s report on ‘Freedom on the Net, 2022’ and says that while India’s standing has “marginally improved”, it still remains only “partly free”. The report is scathing in its observation that the state continues to block online content, journalists remain at risk of facing hate speech and online harassment, and citizens are under the threat of arrest by law enforcement agencies for posts critical of the government.
Two thousand households were surveyed across eight blocks in four states - Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra - on the efficacy of MGNREGA. The Survey showed that during the first year of the pandemic, almost 40 per cent of all job-card-holding citizens interested in work did not get a single day of work, and only 36 per cent received their wages within 15 days in the same year.
Yet, India Development Review analyses the Report to point out that despite the shortcomings, the employment guarantee scheme made a “marked difference” during the pandemic and protected the ‘most vulnerable’ from a catastrophic loss of income.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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