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Union Minister Smriti Irani while addressing a gathering at a FICCI event discussing the “Future Role of Women in India,” made a significant statement, emphasizing that certain indices, like the Global Hunger Index, are intentionally skewed and do not accurately represent India’s progress.
A video of her speech has been circulating on social media, drawing attention to her remarks about these indices. Irani said, “How do they build that index? 3000 people from a country of 140 crore get a phone call from Gallup and they are asked, ‘Are you hungry’?”
It is to be further noted that in the recently released Global Hunger Index-2023, India found itself ranked 111th out of 125 countries.
“Now trust me, I have left my house in Delhi in the morning at 4. I caught a flight at 5 to go to Kochi. I did a conclave there, and caught a flight at 5 o’clock to come to this programme. By the time I get to anything called food, it will be 10 o’clock. If you have called me anytime in the day today and asked are you hungry, I’ll say ‘Oh yes, I am’.”
However, the Indian government swiftly dismissed this ranking as inaccurate and potentially malicious in intent.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate lashed out at Irani over her comments. She slammed, “I don’t know what’s more shameful – your level of ignorance or your insensitivity at display here?”
Also Read: India slips in global hunger index, New Delhi slams report
Shrinate informed, “Madam Minister, a country’s Global Hunger Index is very heavily based on 4 indicators- Undernourishment, Child Stunting, Child Wasting, and Child Mortality.”
The index, unveiled on Thursday, also drew attention to India’s highest child wasting rate globally, standing at a concerning 18.7%, indicative of severe undernutrition.
The Global Hunger Index-2023 gave India a score of 28.7, signifying a serious level of hunger according to the accompanying report. Interestingly, India’s neighbouring nations, including Pakistan (102nd), Bangladesh (81st), Nepal (69th), and Sri Lanka (60th), outperformed India in this particular index.
According to the government release, the proportion of child wasting, as seen on its Poshan tracker, has been consistently below 7.2% month-on-month, as compared to 18.7% in the Global Hunger Index 2023.
It said the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023 report released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates PoU for India at 16.6%. “The FAO estimate is based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) survey conducted through Gallop World Poll which is an opinion poll based on 8 questions with a sample size of 3,000 respondents.”
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