New Delhi, October 16, 2019 (PPI-OT): India has been classified as a country with serious levels of hunger according to this year’s Global Hunger Index (GHI), slipping from 95th rank in 2010 to 102nd in 2019. The country with the severest problem of hunger at rank 117 is the Central African Republic. The GHI calculates the levels of hunger and under nutrition worldwide. The four indicators for the index are undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting (weight for age) and child mortality.
The annual report says among the 117 countries ranked, 47 countries are in serious and alarming hunger levels and one in critically alarming. India’s dismal performance on hunger is directly linked to the high levels of child undernourishment. Neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan are better at feeding its citizens than India, according to this index.
The Global Hunger Index or GHI scores countries on a 100-point severity scale, where zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. “With a score of 30.3, India suffers from a level of hunger that is serious,” the report says.
India fell from 55 in 2014 to 102 in 2019 in the GHI. However, the number of countries has differed from year to year. India ranked 55 out of 76 nations in 2014, 100 out of 119 countries in 2017, and 103 out of 119 countries in 2018. This year’s report calculated the index from a sample of 117 nations and India came on 102. The GHI is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Ireland’s Concern Worldwide and Germany’s Welthungerhilfe.
The index was calculated on four parameters: undernourishment; child wasting, or the share of children under five years who have a low weight for their age; child stunting, or the share of children under five years who have a low height for their age, and child mortality rate under five years.
“According to 2019 Global Hunger Index, India has slipped to 102 out of 117 countries. The report says that India has ‘Serious’ hunger levels and yet many believe ‘Acche Din Aayega’. The question is when? Is it when all, except the Cronies, die of hunger?” former Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah tweeted.
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