India commits to improving its ranking in Global Hunger Index

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Concerned about India’s low ranking in the Global Hunger Index, the government has decided to take measures to improve the position. India slipped to 101 from 94 in Global Hunger Index 2021 out of 116 countries ranked across the globe.

According to a report appeared in The Economic Times, a high-level meeting was held under the Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar last week to identify the problem areas and what can be done to lift India’s ranking.

Food consumption pattern

The report quoted an official as saying that the absence of data means the progress on work done in malnutrition and undernourishment areas is not captured, the official said. There is a consensus on the need to update the food consumption survey , he added.

India is of the view it was not appropriate to call the index as Hunger Index. Problems remain in malnourishment and undernourishment but lot of work is being done. Therefore, it is not right to call it a Hunger Index, the official said.

The four indicators used for assessing the performance of nations include undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality.

Global Hunger Index

Global Hunger Index scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger. It is designed to raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger, provide a way to compare levels of hunger between countries and regions, and call attention to those areas of the world where hunger levels are highest and where the need for additional efforts to eliminate hunger is greatest.

The scores on a 100-point GHI Severity Scale, where 0 is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. In practice, neither of these extremes is reached.

A value of 100 would signify that a country’s undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality levels were each at approximately the highest levels observed worldwide in recent decades