Mehbooba targets BJP as India slips in Global Hunger Index

India has been ranked 107 out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index in which it fares worse than all countries in South Asia barring war-torn Afghanistan. India also ranks below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99).

Srinagar (J&K): Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday targeted the Central government over India's poor rating in the Global Hunger Index. India has been ranked 107 out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index in which it fares worse than all countries in South Asia barring war-torn Afghanistan.

Mehbooba targets BJP as India slips in Global Hunger Index

India also ranks below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99). Mehbooba in a tweet on Saturday said, “For all its drum beating about ‘New India’, we are far behind Nepal, Bangladesh & even Sri Lanka on the Global Hunger Index. Godi media will conveniently look away & instead focus on namaz, mandir & masjid issues. This is what BJP has brought the country to”.

GHI is the measurement of hunger at global, regional and national levels with the scores based on four component indicators - undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality. The GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale with zero being the best score (no hunger) and 100 the worst. Significantly, India this year's ranking on GHI is worse than last year's.

India slipped to 101st rank in the GHI 2021, out of 116 countries, and is now behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The country ranked 94th position in GHI in 2020. The Centre had, however, termed the methodology used for rankings "unscientific".

Condemning the report released by Concern Worldwide and Welt Hunger Hilfe, the Ministry of Women and Child Development issued a statement saying, “It is shocking to find that the Global Hunger Report 20201 has lowered the rank of India on the basis of food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimate on the proportion of the undernourished population, which is found to be devoid of ground reality and facts and suffers from serious methodological issues. The publishing agencies of the Global Hunger Report, Concern Worldwide and Welt Hunger Hilfe have not done their due diligence before releasing the report."