When malnutrition among children is widespread, the government is slashing funds allocated to the mid day meal scheme that covers most of the vulnerable children. Questioning this approach of the government, E S Ramamurthy started a petition to raise the funding for mid-day meal scheme to cover minimum nutritional needs of a child.

Dr Ruffles, an affectionate dog and resident ‘doctor’ at a hospital in Chennai, has helped several children with special needs to overcome their learning disabilities and resolve complex behavioural issues. Hema Vijay reports.

Tribal societies and groups belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in India are traditionally known to have been relatively gender-unbiased, but recent reports and statistics point to a deteriorating child sex ratio in these communities, too. Shambhu Ghatak analyses the findings.

The Integrated Child Development Services scheme was launched to address the nutrition, health and learning needs of all children below six years of age. Ankita Aggarwal shares findings from a survey that point to the huge variations in implementation and effectiveness.