NYT article on chid hunger in India

The idea of starving Indian kids is not new to the West. In earlier days western moms are said to remind their kids of starving Indian kids when they did not eat ther veggies. I have written about depressingly high rates of malnutrition among Indian children a few times. Every time I have encountered a weird sense of denial among many Indians to acknowledge this fact. The same people who would otherwise hail the Western policies around the world and swear by their news paper/channels claim that there is a Western bias or denial to accept India's shining. This is not surprising as the Indian media itself props this notion. They celebrate any western collaboration that would benefit a few of their advertisers and comfortably forget to followup of western reports that point at the real issues that infest the country. Analysis of how the policies of the country might be affecting the poor in the country and providing a thorough understanding to a well fed Indian reader is missing from the media. This once-in-a-while reporting and citing some report (even an Indian report) has almost become a regular drama. Even though we are hailed as democracy(and we are quite democratic) its a shame that there are still people who have more control over the policies than the rest. The Indian media has been severly restricting their access to these analysis and allowing them to disregard a truth as vital as this.

One such report that will meet the same end has been just released by NYT. It is a good report but as usual, the policy analysis is minimal and the implementational inefficiencies take bigger blame. ( Read these article by P Sainath called "It's the policy stupid" Part I and Part II )

NYT Report: As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists

In India, by contrast, despite robust growth and good government intentions, the comparable number is 42.5 percent.....

India’s public expenditure on health remains low, and in some places, financing for child nutrition programs remains unspent. ...

Others point to the efficiency of an authoritarian state like China. India’s sluggish and sometimes corrupt bureaucracy has only haltingly put in place relatively simple solutions — iodizing salt, for instance...

as the [Chinese]government safety net has shredded with its adoption of a more market-driven economy. ...