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<ul><li><keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> came in at 103 out of 119 countries on the <keyword id="447399" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Global-hunger-index">Global Hunger Index</keyword> 2018. </li><li>The increasing problem of undernourishment makes India fall in a list with 45 countries having ‘serious level of hunger’. </li><li>India is behind many neighbouring countries like China, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. </li></ul>The sustainable development agenda of removing poverty and hunger might seem like a dream to India despite being the world’s fastest developing economy. The recent<a href="http://www.globalhungerindex.org/results/"> Global Hunger Index 2018</a> (GHI) reveals that tackling hunger and undernutrition is a difficult task for the Modi Government. <a href="http://www.globalhungerindex.org/india.html">India stood 103rd</a> on the Global Hunger Index along with Nigeria and has been categorised as a country with ‘serious’ levels of hunger. The 13th edition of <a href="https://www.concern.net/sites/default/files/resource/2018/10/global_hunger_index_2018.pdf">Global Hunger Index 2018</a> released by <keyword id="5219554" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Welthungerhilfe">Welthungerhilfe</keyword> and Concern Worldwide stated that although there has been a significant decline in the proportion of the undernourished population from 18.2% in 2000 to 14.8% in 2018, India still has GHI of 31.1 making the country fall in the ‘serious’ category. The best-performing countries have a GHI score as low as 5 (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia etc). The report uses four parameters to calculate the index - mainly proportion of undernourished in the population, prevalence of wasting in children under five years, the prevalence of stunting in children under five years and the mortality rate under five years of age. Out of the four parameters, three are dedicated to children below the age of five years. And in all this, India performed poorly with a GHI score of 30.5. Currently, the scores for three out of the four parameters have shown a declining trend. In contrast, a rising trend can be witnessed in the prevalence of wasting in children under five years. The proportion of undernourished in population was dropped to 14.8% from 18.2% in 2000 whereas the prevalence of wasting in children under five years was recorded at 21% (2.9% more since 2000). The prevalence of stunting in children under five years and under-five year mortality were 38.4% and 4.3% respectively. And when compared to the neighbours? Despite a 0.3 point improvement from 2017, many neighbouring countries like China (25th), Sri Lanka (67th), Myanmar (68th), Nepal (72nd) and Bangladesh (86th) stood ahead of India. Although, the country has done far better than Pakistan which stood at 106th position, coming in at 103 does not look good. While it can be supposed that India’s rank fell because the other countries fared better, the GHI report stated that it is not possible to derive at an accurate conclusion as there are many factors which determine GHI scores. Critic speak Opposition leader, <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword> tweeted a Hindi newspaper report mentioning the negligence of Modi-Government on hunger and poverty in India. 
 
 
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 Apart from Rahul Gandhi, several other Congress members including Keshav Chand Yadav, Biswaranjan Mohanty criticised the government on its failed attempt to eradicate hunger. The opposition pointed out that India’s GHI rank has dropped from 55 in 2014 to 103 in 2018. The people suffering from chronic hunger accounts for 124 million out of the total world population. Moreover, there are 151 million stunted and 51 million children wasting away across the globe. India’s huge economic divide with the likes of billionaires like Mukesh Ambani earning ₹3 billion per day while <a href="http://www.globalhungerindex.org/case-studies/2016-india.html">21% of its population lives below the poverty line</a> implies that only 1% of India;s population holds 50% of the nation’s wealth. According to <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/infographic/2016/05/27/india-s-poverty-profile">a World Bank report published </a>on 27 May 2016, One in every five people is poor in India and hence cannot access basic necessities like food and water.

India suffers serious level of hunger, ranks 103 on global hunger index 2018

<ul><li>India dropped seven spots to 102 in the global hunger index over the last decade, thanks to <keyword id="6361617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-change">climate change</keyword> and economic slowdown. </li><li>India’s rank improved to 102 from 103 last year — lowest among the South Asian countries. </li><li>According to the report, merely 10% of Indian infants are provided minimum acceptable diet. </li><li>Globally, at least one in every three children under five years of age is undernourished or overweight, <keyword id="56000" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="UNICEF">UNICEF</keyword> said.</li></ul>Climate change and economic slowdown is hurting the most vulnerable of its citizens--infants. India dropped seven spots to 102 in the Global Hunger Index over the last decade. <keyword id="108578" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-Food-Policy-Research-Institute">International Food Policy Research Institute</keyword> which comes out with the index has marked India as ‘serious’. According to the report, merely 10% of Indian infants are provided with minimum acceptable diet. It also shows that infants and children below the age of five suffer the most. The index takes into account parameters like mortality rate and inadequate height and weight. India’s rank is the <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-falls-to-102-in-hunger-index-8-ranks-below-pakistan/articleshow/71606116.cms?from=mdr">lowest</a> amongst all South Asian countries and even Pakistan -- which crawled up to 94th place. “India’s child wasting rate is extremely high at 20.8%, the highest for any country in this report,” the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/india-takes-the-low-rung-ranked-102-in-hunger-index-of-117-countries-119101501494_1.html">report</a> said.The states of Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra have the maximum share in wasting percentage, said the National Family Health Survey of 2015-16. Globally, at least one in every three children under five years of age is either undernourished or overweight, UNICEF said. Children were eating too little of the food they need and too much of what they don't need. It added that "poor diets are now the main risk factor for the global burden of disease", Efe news said. The top spots in the GHI include countries like Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/a-third-of-indian-children-will-be-stunted-by-2022-thanks-to-malnutrition/articleshow/69986703.cms">A third of Indian children will be stunted by 2022, thanks to malnutrition</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-left-out-women-from-its-largest-child-nutrition-program-study/articleshow/68201093.cms">India left out women from its largest child nutrition program: Study</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/poor-diet-obesity-and-climate-change-strongly-linked-lancet-report/articleshow/67722970.cms">Climate change, obesity, and malnutrition are strongly linked: Lancet report</a>

Indian economic slowdown is leaving its infants hungry as only 10% are given acceptable diet

India has emerged as the world’s fastest growing economy. However, Asia’s third largest economy just ranked 97th among 118 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) released by the <keyword id="108578" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-Food-Policy-Research-Institute">International Food Policy Research Institute</keyword> (<keyword id="6557928" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ifpri">IFPRI</keyword>). This puts the country behind even <keyword id="6354759" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</keyword>, <keyword id="41896" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iran">Iran</keyword>, <keyword id="6355112" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iraq">Iraq</keyword>, and <keyword id="6354767" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nigeria">Nigeria</keyword> in the hunger map. 
 
India’s policy addressing hunger and malnutrition in all age groups has a feast of questions and a famine of answers. India’s hunger, being worse than any sub-Saharan country, needs crisis management and a long term vision. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">ALSO READ: Excise duty in cigarette hiked. Tobacco farmers in India are struggling to make ends meet</a> 
 Be it <keyword id="4227644" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="manohar-das">Manohar Das</keyword> of <keyword id="4227647" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tewri">Tewri</keyword> village in <keyword id="6360371" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jharkhand">Jharkhand</keyword>, who works in hundred days of wage-employment or <keyword id="4227646" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="shib-baksha">Shib Baksha</keyword> of <keyword id="4227645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="amlasol">Amlasol</keyword> village in <keyword id="61773" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Midnapore">West Midnapore</keyword> district of <keyword id="6357783" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Bengal">West Bengal</keyword>, who works as contract labour at nearby village, the thin line that connects them is the ignorance about ‘<keyword id="2209492" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi-Sarkar">Modi Sarkar</keyword>’. The only thing they understand by the government is getting staples at Rs 2/kg and free goodies. However, staples alone can’t fulfill nutritional needs, as a result they end up with stunted growth and other diseases. Not everyone is as lucky as them. Their neighbours, unable to procure <keyword id="49514" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="bpl">BPL</keyword> (below poverty level) identity cards and Ration Cards aren’t entitled to these basic facilities and have to starve most of the days. Only feast they can think of is ant eggs roast during the scorching summer months. 
 
 
 
India’s overall GDP growth is expected to end at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">7.1% this financial year</a>, as compared to 4.6% two years back. While food still counts as the basic requirement of human existence, India is a country that not only produces enough, but ironically, there is never enough for its ever growing population to eat. Funnily, while millions go hungry, for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">India storage of surplus food</a> has always been a problem. 
 
 
 
India’s hunger-management disaster 
While development in many sectors is acknowledged, what is lesser known is that India has also made considerable progress on many social fronts, such as fertility decline, expansion of schooling and bridging the gender gap in education, especially at the primary and lower secondary levels. However, there is one <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">area of human development</a>, where India has been a disaster: tackling hunger and malnutrition. 
 
Child malnutrition rates in India are extraordinarily high- among the highest in the world, with nearly one-half of all children under 3 years of age being either underweight or stunted. Indeed, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">child malnutrition rates </a>are higher in India than in many countries of sub-Saharan <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword>, even though income levels are significantly higher and levels of infant and child mortality are lower in India. 
 
 
 
Pediatric malnutrition Prevalence of child malnutrition in India has remained stubbornly high even after nearly a half-century of respectable agricultural productivity growth and two decades of post-reform economic growth and prosperity in the country. Adding more support to the view that child malnutrition is weakly correlated with income is the finding that among children of mothers with 10 or more years of schooling as well as mothers from the top income quintile, around one-quarter are underweight. Even in a relatively prosperous and dynamic state like <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>, child malnutrition rates have been stagnant over the past decade. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">ALSO READ: HOW INDEPAY IS MAKING RURAL INDIA CASHLESS</a> 
 The <keyword id="121300" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Family-Health-Survey">National Family Health Survey</keyword> (NFHS) found that a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">significant number of adults</a> in India suffer from malnutrition. Almost 58 per cent of pregnant women aged 15-49 were found to be anaemic. The Global Food Security Index also revealed that Indians lack adequate quantities of iron, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">Vitamin A and protein in their diets</a>. 
 
 
 
“Half of the children who die before five years of age have malnutrion as a cause in their pathogenesis. If we look at proportion of weight at birth, 23 per cent of children weigh less than 2.5 kg, which is below normal. This low birth weight has its reason in the womb, which is where they are malnourished already before being born. Low birth weight increases over time and so by the time they are three-years-old, half the children are malnourished. Because of poor sanitation we have widespread <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">faecal oral contamination</a>. Water and food sources have high degrees of contamination and it results in diarrhoea and other gastro intestinal illnesses, which increases the child mortality rate,” said renowned public health specialist and activist Dr <keyword id="43944" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binayak-Sen">Binayak Sen</keyword>. 
 
 
 
State of famine 
In 1943, three million people died in the infamous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">Bengal famine</a>. There was no shortage of grain in <keyword id="6356978" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengal">Bengal</keyword> at that time, yet people had nothing to eat. Interpreting the Famine of 1943,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841"> Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen </a>suggested that the reason for it was the breakdown of the social arrangement in distributing food. To put the matter in a world context, every three seconds somewhere around the world, a child dies of causes related to avoidable malnutrition. "In those three seconds, the world armaments industry spends 120,000 USD in order to keep the system responsible safely in place,” Binayak Sen told <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword>. 
 
 
 
Ignorant policies that do the most harm Skyrocketing prices of daily food items spell more woe for the people, who are already paying "too much" to survive. International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (<keyword id="1367836" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IFAD">IFAD</keyword>) Rural Poverty Report-2011 states, “While international food prices have declined since mid-2008, they are still substantially higher than prior to the price surge, and they are likely to remain at 2010 levels or higher for the next decade.” The report has suggested that about 100 million of world’s rural and urban people have to remain hungry. 
 “It will remain high, the era of cheap food is over," said <keyword id="669006" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Richard-Mahapatra">Richard Mahapatra</keyword>, managing editor of Down to <keyword id="6359982" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="earth">Earth</keyword>. "This is because productivity of agriculture is low and thus impacts production. This is the supply side issue. Also the rainfed areas that contribute a signifcant amount of foodgrain is not getting the policy focus. Even though the new second Green <keyword id="24385" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="revolution">Revolution</keyword> is aimed at that, it seems to be flawed. Now, the demand side. Demand is increasing but we don't have robust distribution mechanism. So, it creates further price rise. Also, there is huge diversion of agricultural lands to other uses. Combined with low productivity, less lands and absence of distribution mechanism, we are set for high price rise.” 
 Due to the PDS (<keyword id="89442" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Public-distribution-system">Public Distribution System</keyword>) and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">public wage programmes</a> starvation deaths have definitely come down, he contended. Often we call cheap food grain programmes as populist. They are indeed popular as poor find them useful and their starvation is avoided with this entitlement. 
 
 
 
Adult malnutrition 
“Roughly 33-35 per cent of the entire Indian population have a BMI below 18.5, which is indicative of calorie malnutrition. They aren't getting enough food to eat. More than one-third of India is on a chronic basis not getting proper food to eat. Low BMI is also restricting people’s immunity,” said Binayak Sen. 
 “Without addressing nutritional status, there can be no adequate development. Food Security Act does nothing for betterment of nutritional status of the poeple as such. <keyword id="250148" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Bill">The Bill</keyword> is like 'something is better than nothing'. Five kilos of wheat per person per month make two chapattis per day. With two chapatis the nutritional question isn’t answered. This terrible nutritional deficit is yielding polarization in society,” he added. 
 
Urban malnutrition 
In villages, people stay in close bond with each other, who can be approached for help in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">times of crisis</a>. Migrating people in cities start living in slums and ghettos, where they have to live with people unknown and untrustworthy. Moreover, people fight here to make ends meet, which actually leads to self-centric attitude. 
 
Red corridor hunger 
“People who are in chronic situation and stable famine are able to withstand only because of their access to natural resources like land, water and forest," opined Binayak Sen. "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">Access to this resources was unrestricted</a>. Designating the common properties as commodities that can be owned by corporates is restricting poeple’s right to access and in a way right to live. Any form of resistance is labelled as insurgency. First they try civil ways and then take recourse in military measures. People have to confront. Application of eminent domain needs to be questioned. Under 5th schedule, govt has to ensure people’s access to natural resources but there is not a single instances of government intervening.” 
 
“They have mapped it as red corridor but poeple’s deprivation hasn't been mapped yet," said Sen. 
 
"We need to relook at the arm forces and UAPA laws. Whole discourse in election has become restricted to attitudes to development. Development is about accessing resources. Nobody is saying there are vital issues involved. What is going to happen to the poeple whose right has been denied? State will not be thwarted in its course. There needs to be a contestaion in the level of people. They need to raise the issue.” 
 
Business Insider’s Take 
Agriculture contributes around 16 per cent to<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841"> India’s GDP</a>; it is coming down over the years. But still 60 per cent people depend on this. What does this mean? Is it that it is reliable as a source of livelihood or people don't have any other source thus depend on agriculture? In both the cases, shifting people out of agriculture is going to be a tough challenge. Industries or the service sectors have their own limitation and can't absorb such a huge number of people. Strategically, this will be a blunder as we kill out food self-sufficiency.

BI Investigation: India’s food nightmare is killing millions of
children across the country every day

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India suffers serious level of hunger, ranks 103 on global hunger index 2018

BI India Bureau

Indian economic slowdown is leaving its infants hungry as only 10% are given acceptable diet

Prerna Sindwani

BI Investigation: India’s food nightmare is killing millions of children across the country every day

Suchayan Mandal

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