Cause Conclusion: Hunger Index: Where does India stand in terms of hunger?

Ramesh Ojha

According to the 'World Hunger Index' (WHI) of 024, a total of 127 countries in the world have problems with hunger or do not get enough food to provide adequate nutrition. Children who are born are malnourished and some unfortunate children do not reach the age of five. WHO has developed several criteria ranging from hunger to undernutrition and assigns coefficients based on them and ranks them in indices based on the coefficients. India is ranked 105th out of 127 countries with a score of 27.3. India's coefficient was 38.4 in 2000. In 2008 it was 35.2 and in 2016 it was 29.3. 105th place out of 127 countries is a shame. Good hunger management is essential if one wants to reduce the coefficient and move up in the index. It took 24 years for India to reduce its score of 11 on hunger management in 2000. We are still at 27. Estimate how many years it will take to reach zero. One more fact is worth noting. Of the 11 declines in the coefficient, three were in the years 2000 to 2008. Six of the declines occurred in the years 2008 to 2016, and only two in the eight years from 2016 to 2024. Only two instead of six. India could not even maintain the momentum. The situation is deteriorating instead of improving. If we tackle hunger at this rate, it will take the entire 21st century to reach zero, and no wonder we enter the twenty-second century with some people starving! China's coefficient was 13.4 in 2000, which is now within five. Sri Lanka's score has dropped by ten (21.7 to 10.9) in 24 years and ranks 56th on the 'WHI Index', just above India. Nepal's coefficient has decreased by 23 (37.1 to 14.7). There is a lot to learn from Nepal in hunger management. Nepal's rank is 68th. Same with Myanmar. In 2000, Myanmar had a coefficient of 40.2 which has come down to 15.7. Nepal's coefficient decreased by 23, while Myanmar's coefficient decreased by 25. Myanmar ranks 74th in the 'Hunger Index'. Bangladesh had a coefficient of 33.8 in 2000 which has come down to 19.9 today and ranks 84th on the WHI 'Hunger Index'. Bangladesh has been able to reduce by approximately 15. Pakistan is behind us at 109th and its Rajip can be felt if one wants to feel it. Pakistan's hunger management journey is worse than ours. The coefficient decreased by 12 (36.6 to 24.6) in the years 2000 to 2016, but increased by three (24.6 to 27.9) in the years 2016 to 2024. We reduced by only two and Pakistan increased by three. Afghanistan is ranked 116th and has also dropped nearly twenty times from 49.9 to 30.8 in 24 years. You might be wondering what this coefficient indicates? According to the WHI report, if the coefficient is more than 50, the situation of such countries is considered extremely alarming. If the coefficient is between 35 and 50, it is considered alarming. If the coefficient is between 20 and 35, it is considered a serious condition. If the coefficient is between 10 and 20, it is considered a mild (moderate) condition that is not very serious, and if it is within ten, it is called relief. Now you can see that India ranks among the countries with severe hunger situation and none of India's neighboring countries are with us except Pakistan and Afghanistan, many have gone ahead. India and Pakistan are the only countries that have gone backwards rather than forwards in hunger management. India reduced the coefficient by six in the years 2008 to 2016, compared to just two in the years 2016 to 2024. Why did this happen? Out of 127 countries in the world, only ten countries have poor hunger management. Either its condition has worsened or remained the same or otherwise decreased. Such countries include Pakistan and India. The situation in Pakistan has worsened and India has rather improved. But the question is why did this happen? This is due to lack of developmentally oriented governance and excess of religion and religion-based politics. This is happening in both countries. There is no other discussion except Hindu-Muslim and India-Pakistan. The discussion of development is now limited to a handful of concerned people. The biggest problem of the country is not hunger, it is Muslims. Where priorities change, results change. That is, the country which reduced the coefficient by six in the years 2008 to 2016, could only reduce it by two in the next eight years. The priority has changed and that too when the 'World Food Organisation' says that this land and the farmers who farm it produce as much rice as the world needs today. Production is sufficient, there is a problem of supply and purchasing power. You must have read this on the occasion of 'World Food Day' celebrated on 16th October. India is also self-sufficient in food. The problem is one of poverty and one of supply. One is that food does not reach people and if it does, people do not have money to buy it. There is no point in fantasizing about greatness when the reality is embarrassing }