Best of BS Opinion: Malnutrition among children, Brexit deal, and more

The latest National Family Health Survey 2019-20 shows that the proportion of children suffering from stunting, wasting and anaemia has risen perceptibly since the last such survey in 2015-16 even though food is abundantly available and the National Food Security Act covers two-thirds of the country.

These findings, says the top edit today, offer clear pointers for policy makers to reorient food programmes away from hunger, which has disappeared, to malnutrition and ensure that supplemental programmes such as midday meals schemes move away from calorie intake to ensuring wholesome and balanced nutrition. Read it here.

Should reforms be fast-paced or gradual? What can ensure India’s transformation from manufacturing laggard to leader? Columnists examine these issues on the opinion pages today. Kanika Datta sums up the views

We need policies to promote export-oriented backward integration and linked development of technological capacity in our manufacturing sector, says Nitin Desai, presenting key findings on India’s manufacturing variables from the KLEMs database. Read it here

Gurbachan Singh explains why it helps to carry out reforms incrementally rather than as a big bang. Read it here

The latest negotiating deadline for Brexit is likely to postpone the inevitable – a no-deal exit that the UK can ill afford in these times of economic fragility. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Farmers consuming poison was never a concern but farmers eating pizza is news”Actor Diljit Dosanjh

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