India Scores Low on Hunger Index


Bangalore: India, need to pull up its socks and take charge to get people pink, plump and healthy. Or carry the stigma of being one of the countries which is under fed. India is criticized for the low amount of malnutrition number by Global Hunger Index, a new report by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. When tallied with the country’s economic indicators merit, the nutritional indicators score is dreadful. Out of 79 countries India is on the 65th spot as per the report.

The need for the emphasis on the seriousness of the situation is huge. The cause of death due to the widespread hunger in the countries is above the death caused by any other factors, like cancer and Aids. The IFRI report said India is among the 33 countries with primary threat of hunger. The reason is the raise in food prices which create severe threats for malnourished people in these regions. The report estimated hunger levels for 17 major states in India, which represents over 95 percent of the population. There are twelve states which are in the ‘alarming’ slot and ‘extremely alarming’ level of hunger is reported in Madhya Pradesh.

According to the India State Hunger Index (ISHI) which is a tool at regional level to calculate hunger and malnutrition in the country, which has similar parameters as the Global Hunger Index has also established Madhya Pradesh to have the most severe level of Hunger, which can be compared to Chad and Ethiopia. Among the seriously affected with hunger levels are Kerala, Haryana’ Punjab and Assam. Gujarat is the affluent state in India making the 13th position on the list below Haiti.

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