India Ranks 111 On Global Hunger Index 2023; Centre Calls It An ‘Erroneous Measure’

India has ranked 111 out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index for the year 2023, with the country reporting the highest child wasting rate at 18.7 per cent.

Child wasting is characterised by a child being excessively thin in proportion to their height due to either significant recent weight loss or an inability to gain weight.

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) serves as a comprehensive instrument for assessing and monitoring hunger on a global, regional, and national scale.

It encompasses three aspects of hunger: insufficient availability of food, shortfalls in the nutritional status of children and child mortality.

In comparison, India ranks lower on the index than its neighbouring countries, including Pakistan (102), Bangladesh (81), Nepal (69), and Sri Lanka (60).

The Indian government has rejected the index, calling it an erroneous measure of hunger.

According to the ministry of women and child development, the proportion of child wasting, as determined from 'Poshan Tracker' is consistently below 7.2%, as compared to 18.7% in the Global Hunger Index 2023.

Poshan Tracker is a real time monitoring digital data collection system, used by the government for recording the health status of children and pregnant women.