India ranked lowest in South Asia in the Global Hunger Index
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the Narendra Modi-led Centre saying the country's position reveals a "colossal failure" in the policy of the central government
Swati Subhedar 17 Oct 2019 7:22 AM GMT
India was ranked a lowly 102nd out of 117 countries in this year's Global Hunger Index (GHI). In 2018, it was ranked 103 out of 119 countries. In 2000, the country was ranked 83 out of 113 countries. Now, with 117 countries in the fray, it has dropped to 102.
The GHI calculates the levels of global hunger and undernutrition. The four parameters for measuring the index are -- undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting (weight for age) and child mortality.
Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores of less than five. The report prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organization Welt Hunger Hilfe termed the level of hunger in India "serious".
Even other countries in the SAARC region, like Nepal (73rd), Sri Lanka (66th), Bangladesh (88th), Myanmar (69th) and Pakistan (94th) have fared better than India, although the nations also fall in the 'serious' category. Only Afghanistan (108th) has been ranked below India in the report. Countries like Yemen and Djibouti, which are conflict-ridden and facing severe climate issues respectively, fared better than India on that front, according to the report.
India's child wasting rate is extremely high at 20.8% -- the highest wasting rate of any country. The country's child stunting rate, 37.9%, is also categorized as very high in terms of its public health significance, according to the GHI report.
Just 9.6% of all children in the country aged between 6 and 23 months are fed a "minimum acceptable diet", said the report.
However, India has shown improvement in other indicators such as the under-5 mortality rate, prevalence of stunting among children and prevalence of undernourishment owing to inadequate food, the report said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the Narendra Modi-led Centre saying the country's position reveals a "colossal failure" in the policy of the central government. "India's #GlobalHungerIndex ranking, falling steadily since 2014, has now crashed to 102/117. This ranking reveals a colossal failure in Govt policy and blows the lid off the PM's hollow "sabka vikas" claim, parroted by Modia," he said in a tweet.
