India At 102 In Global Hunger Index Of 117 Nations
Below Pak, Nepal, Bangladesh
India is behind its neighbours Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh in a list of 117 countries that tracks hunger and malnutrition, according to a report released by two international non-profits that work for humanitarian aid.
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.
Pakistan is at 94, Bangladesh 88 and Nepal 73 in this year’s GHI report that the authors say is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and national levels.
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.
The leaders of the opposition parties referred to the GHI report to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the centre.
