Morning Briefing

In the final article of a six-part series titled "Starving in India" in the Wall Street Journal's "India Real Time" blog, series author Ashwin Parulkar of the Centre for Equity Studies writes that the research conducted for the articles shows "that India needs a new legal framework for dealing with chronic hunger and starvation." He notes that "[t]he draft version of the National Food Security Bill that is being considered by India's Parliament would guarantee discounted food-grains to 50 percent of the urban population and 75 percent of the rural population." While "[m]uch of the debate on the measure has been over its cost and scope, ... my biggest problem with the bill is the way it deals with starvation," leaving it up to state governments to identify starving individuals and provide them with two meals a day for six months, Parulkar writes.