Govt document rates hunger index as credible source!
Despite overall economic growth in recent years, pockets of the Indian population predominantly in rain-fed region, suffer from hunger and malnutrition. The Global Hunger Index reveals that since 2016 - Draft policy document on rainfed agriculture
image for illustrative purpose
But the Narendra Modi government has slammed the Global Hunger Index 2022, as it had also rejected the Global Hunger Index 2021
New Delhi: The central government has slammed the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022, as it had also rejected the Global Hunger Index 2021, but its own document apparently refers to the latter as a credible source. India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the GHI 2022, six notches below that of GHI 2021.
The draft policy for accelerated growth of rain-fed agriculture mentions the GHI 2021 to support its assertion on 'hunger and malnutrition' in the country. The policy paper, called Accelerating the Growth of Rainfed Agriculture: Integrated Farmers Livelihood Approach, was prepared by the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
The July paper sought comments, inputs, and suggestions from various stakeholders. "Despite overall economic growth in recent years, pockets of the Indian population predominantly in rain-fed region, suffer from hunger and malnutrition. The Global Hunger Index reveals that since 2016, hunger in India is growing and its 2021 rank is 101 out of 116 countries," the draft policy said.
India counts among the 31 nations in the world where hunger has been classified as serious, the draft policy said. "Nutrition challenges that India faces, especially its women and children are expressed as low body mass index, undernutrition, anemia, wastage, stunting, and high infant mortality." Interestingly, the government had trashed GHI 2021 by issuing a statement on December 3, 2021: "Global Hunger Index (GHI) doesn't reflect India's true picture as it is a flawed measure of 'Hunger'. It should not be taken at face value as it is neither appropriate nor representative of hunger prevalent in a country."
The statement further said, "out of its four indicators, only one indicator, i.e., undernourishment, is directly related to hunger. The two indicators, namely, Stunting and Wasting are outcomes of complex interactions of various other factors like sanitation, genetics, environment and utilisation of food intake apart from hunger which is taken as the causative/outcome factor for stunting and wasting in the GHI. Also, there is hardly any evidence that the fourth indicator, namely, child mortality is an outcome of hunger."
This information was given by the Minister of Women & Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
GHI 2022 too has been trashed by the government. An official statement on October 15 this year said, "the (GHI 2022) report is not only disconnected from ground reality but also chooses to deliberately ignore efforts made by the Government to ensure food security for the population especially during the Covid Pandemic."
