New Delhi: The Government of India has questioned the Global Hunger Index 2022, calling it a wrong measure of hunger, and said that it suffers from serious questions of methodology. India’s ranking in this index has slipped to 107th place out of 121 countries.
Regarding this, a statement issued by the government said that this report is not only cut off from the ground reality but also chooses to deliberately ignore the efforts made by the government to ensure food security for the people.
Worst condition in Asia after Afghanistan
Hunger is monitored and calculated at the global, regional, and national levels through the Global Hunger Index (GHI). The hunger level in India is ‘severe’ with a score of 29.1. According to the Global Hunger Index 2022 released on Saturday, India’s situation has worsened and it has reached number 107 out of 121 countries. India was earlier at number 101 out of 116 countries in the year 2021, while in 2020 it was number 94.
Looking at this report also shows that neighboring countries Pakistan (99), Bangladesh (84), Nepal (81), and Sri Lanka (64) are in a better position than India. In Asia, only Afghanistan is behind India and is ranked 109th.
India has the highest rate of stunting among children
The report states that South Asia, the region with the highest hunger levels in the world, has the highest child stunting rate. It said, “India has a child wasting rate of 19.3 percent which is the highest of any country in the world, and due to India’s large population, it raises the average of the region.”
India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have child stunting rates between 35 and 38 percent, and Afghanistan has the highest rate in the region.
According to this report, the prevalence of undernutrition in India has increased from 14.6 percent in 2018-2020 to 16.3 in 2019-2021. This means that out of the total 828 million of the world’s population, 22.43 million people in India are undernourished.
Child wasting, the biggest indicator of mortality among children up to the age of five, has also worsened. It has increased from 15.1 percent in 2012-16 to 19.3 percent in 2017-21.
GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX SCORES BY 2022 GHI RANK:
https://www.globalhungerindex.org/ranking.html
Full report pdf:https://www.globalhungerindex.org/pdf/en/2022.pdf
