India undergoing silent rights revolution as laws guarantee social services

by Rama Lakshmi

Indian child eating. The Indian government recently promulgated the National Food Security Ordinance 2013. The ordinance effectively activates the bill, but it must be ratified by Parliament within six weeks of its first sitting or else the bill will lapse. This bill, and other programs, are efforts to establish economic human rights for Indian citizens, an important development. Photo: Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press

DALKI SAHI, India — Three years ago, a group of parents in a remote tribal hamlet handed local officials a petition demanding a new school. Their children had to walk nearly two miles through farmland, forest and creeks to reach the closest government school although, they argued, India’s new Right to Education law entitled them to something closer.

  • World Hunger Education
    Service
    P.O. Box 29015
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  • For the past 40 years, since its founding in 1976, the mission of World Hunger Education Service is to undertake programs, including Hunger Notes, that
    • Educate the general public and target groups about the extent and causes of hunger and malnutrition in the United States and the world
    • Advance comprehension which integrates ethical, religious, social, economic, political, and scientific perspectives on the world food problem
    • Facilitate communication and networking among those who are working for solutions
    • Promote individual and collective commitments to sustainable hunger solutions.