Global Hunger Report 2022- The index is an erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues

Source:  This post is based on the following articles:

a. “Explained | Understanding the Global Hunger Index” published in The Hindu on 17th October 2022

b. “Global Hunger Report 2022- The index is an erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues” published in PIB on 17th October 2022.

What is the News?

For the second time in two years, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has rejected the Global Hunger Index(GHI) which ranked India 107 among 121 countries. 

India was accorded a score of 29.1 out of 100 (with 0 representing no hunger), placing it behind Sri Lanka (66), Myanmar (71), Nepal (81) and Bangladesh(84).

What is the Global Hunger Index(GHI)?

Click Here to read about it

Why has the Government of India rejected the report?

The Government of India has rejected the report based on the following reasons:

Firstly, three out of the four indicators used for the calculation of the index are related to the health of Children and cannot be representative of the entire population. 

Secondly, the fourth and most important indicator estimate of the Proportion of the Undernourished (PoU) population is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size of 3000.

Thirdly, the report is not only disconnected from ground reality but also chooses to deliberately ignore the food security efforts of the Government of India especially during the pandemic. For instance:

–  Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna (PM-GKAY) provides an additional five kg ration per person each month in addition to their normal quota of foodgrains as per the National Food Security Act. It was recently extended to December 2022.

– Under Anganwadi Services, since the Covid-19 pandemic, supplementary nutrition was provided to approximately 7.71 crore children up to the age of 6 years and to 1.78 crore pregnant women and lactating mothers.  

– Under the Pradhan Mantri Matri Vandana Yojna, more than 1.5 Crore registered women were provided Rs 5000/- on the birth of their first child for wage support and nutritious food during pregnancy and post-delivery period.