Lok Sabha Question No. 461 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Global Hunger Index
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Andimuthu Raja, V. Kalanidhi, Su Thirunavukkarasar, Ravneet Singh, Badruddin Ajmal, Jagdambika Pal, Manne Srinivas Reddy, Vincent H Pala, Raghu Ramakrishna Raju Kanumuru, Gautham Sigamani Pon

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 461 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2022

## GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX

## 461.  SHRI A. RAJA:

DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

SHRI THIRUNAVUKKARASAR SU:

SHRI RAVNEET SINGH BITTU:

SHRI M. BADRUDDIN AJMAL:

SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY:

SHRI VINCENT H. PALA:

SHRI KANUMURU RAGHU RAMA KRISHNA RAJU:

DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether India has slipped six places and rank 107 out of 121 countries in Global Hunger  Index  (GH)  2022  as  per  report  released  by  European  NGOs  Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, if so,  reasons  therefor  and  the  reaction  of  the Government thereto;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  also  aware  that  the  aforesaid  rank  show  that  the country's undernourishment level is increasing for the last few years and if so, the  reasons  therefor  and  the  steps  taken  during  last  three  years  to  improve nutrition among children in the country;
- (c) the  details  of  the  amount  sanctioned  by  the  Government  for  the  PM-POSHAN scheme since 2018 till date, State/UT-wise;
- (d) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  introduce  any  new  scheme  to  deal  with Malnutrition in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the other measures being taken by the Government to improve the position of the country in Global Hunger Index?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)  to  (e)   As  per  Global  Hunger  lndex  2022  released  by  Concern  Worldwide  and Welthungerhilfe, India stands at rank 107 out of 121 countries with a score of 29.1. India stood at rank 101 out of 116 countries with a score of 27.5 on the Global Hunger Index 2021.

Global Hunger Index (GHI) does not reflect India's true picture as it is a flawed measure of 'Hunger'. It should not be taken at face value as it is neither appropriate nor representative  of  hunger  prevalent  in  a  country.  Out  of  its  four  indicators,  only  one indicator,  i.e.,  undernourishment,  is  directly  related  to  hunger.  The  two  indicators, namely, Stunting and Wasting are outcomes of complex interactions of various other factors  like  sanitation,  genetics,  environment  and  utilisation  of  food  intake  apart  from hunger which is taken as the causative/outcome factor for stunting and wasting in the GHI. Also, there is hardly any evidence that the fourth indicator, namely, child mortality is an outcome of hunger.

Data  on  nutritional  indicators  in  the  country  are  captured  periodically  under  the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As per the recent NFHS-5 (2019-21) report, the nutrition indicators for children under  5  years  have  improved  as  compared  with  NFHS-4  (2015-16).  Stunting  has reduced  from  38.4%  to  35.5%,  Wasting  has  reduced  from  21.0%  to  19.3%  and Underweight prevalence has reduced from 35.8% to 32.1%.

The Government has accorded high priority  to  the  issue  of  malnutrition  and  is making  serious  efforts  to  improve  the  nutritional  status  of  children  in  the  country. POSHAN Abhiyaan, a flagship  scheme  of  the  Government  was  launched  in  2018  to address  the  malaise  of  malnutrition  by  adopting  a  synergized  and  result  oriented approach. Further, to address various policy and systemic needs, the Integrated Child Development Scheme and Anganwadi Services schemes were re-evaluated in respect of programme design, implementation process, outcome and impact and for reassessing the relevance of the programme in achieving its aims and goals. The efforts under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme under Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and POSHAN  Abhiyaan have been re-aligned as 'Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0' for maximizing nutritional outcomes.

Under  Poshan  2.0,  focus  is  on  diet  diversity,  food  fortification,  leveraging traditional  systems  of knowledge and popularizing use of millets. Nutrition awareness strategies under Poshan 2.0 aim to develop sustainable health and well-being through regional  meal  plans  to  bridge  dietary  gaps.  Strategy  of  Jan  Andolan,  has  been developed to strengthen convergent actions across multiple stakeholders with focus on exclusive  breast-feeding,  complimentary  feeding,  growth  monitoring,  prevention  of diarrhea,  hygiene,  water  and  sanitation,  anemia  prevention,  importance  of  Poshan Vatikas  for  cultivation  of  local  vegetables,  medicinal  plants/herbs  and  fruits  at  the community level, etc. Poshan Abhiyaan provides a strong platform for targeted home visits,  community-based  events  (CBEs)  and  growth  monitoring  with  greater  emphasis placed on home visits to promote maternal, infant and young child nutrition practices.

The  Government  of  India  approved  for  supply  of  fortified  rice  throughout  the Targeted  Public  Distribution  System  (TPDS),  Integrated  Child  Development  Scheme (ICDS),  Pradhan  Mantri  POshan  SHAkti  Nirman  (PM-POSHAN)  [erstwhile  Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDM)] and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) of Government of India in all States and Union Territories (UTs) by 2024 in a phased manner. Phase-I has been implemented covering ICDS and PM-POSHAN. During this phase, nearly 17.51 Lakh Metric  Tonnes  of  fortified  rice  have  been  lifted  by  States/UTs  for  distribution  under ICDS  and  PM-POSHAN.  At  present,  implementation  of  Phase-II  (2022-23)  is  in progress from April 2022 covering Phase-I plus TPDS and OWS in 112 Aspirational and  250  High  Burden  Districts  on  stunting  (total  291  districts).  As  on  13.11.2022, nearly  16.79  LMT  of  fortified  rice  have  been  lifted  by  States/UTs  for  ICDS  and  PMPOSHAN. As on 13.11.2022, around 250 Aspirational and High Burden districts of 26 States/UTs have lifted fortified  rice  under  TPDS  and  so  far  distributed  around  22.62 LMT of fortified rice. The implementation of Phase-III (2023-24) will cover Phase-II plus remaining districts of the country by March 2024.

The  details  of  Central  assistance  released  under  PM-POSHAN  scheme  are  as under:

| S. No.   | State/UT          | Central Assistance Released (Rs. Crore)   | Central Assistance Released (Rs. Crore)   | Central Assistance Released (Rs. Crore)   | Central Assistance Released (Rs. Crore)   | Central Assistance Released (Rs. Crore)   |                           |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------|
| S. No.   | State/UT          | 2017-18                                   | 2018-19                                   | 2019-20                                   | 2020-21                                   | 2021-22                                   | 2022-23 (as on 6.12.2022) |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | 257.14                                    | 257.48                                    | 285.64                                    | 375.10                                    | 357.31                                    | 208.72                    |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh | 25.52                                     | 25.06                                     | 23.68                                     | 29.18                                     | 29.69                                     | 0.00                      |
| 3        | Assam             | 529.03                                    | 519.82                                    | 553.26                                    | 757.04                                    | 615.70                                    | 561.97                    |
| 4        | Bihar             | 978.72                                    | 1124.49                                   | 1093.13                                   | 1392.48                                   | 1030.16                                   | 763.99                    |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      | 276.83                                    | 320.86                                    | 254.89                                    | 380.81                                    | 213.15                                    | 225.24                    |
| 6        | Goa               | 12.31                                     | 13.09                                     | 12.76                                     | 17.09                                     | 6.68                                      | 7.95                      |
| 7        | Gujarat           | 404.30                                    | 423.52                                    | 392.87                                    | 528.72                                    | 507.06                                    | 265.93                    |
| 8        | Haryana           | 99.54                                     | 132.19                                    | 108.90                                    | 155.73                                    | 101.63                                    | 72.87                     |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  | 86.84                                     | 80.21                                     | 75.58                                     | 105.00                                    | 62.90                                     | 51.62                     |
| 10       | Jammu & Kashmir   | 63.29                                     | 106.66                                    | 26.66                                     | 159.60                                    | 122.22                                    | 0.00                      |
| 11       | Jharkhand         | 303.33                                    | 332.43                                    | 323.11                                    | 352.04                                    | 251.89                                    | 168.09                    |
| 12       | Karnataka         | 447.89                                    | 407.08                                    | 520.57                                    | 515.54                                    | 488.34                                    | 341.76                    |
| 13       | Kerala            | 329.78                                    | 198.57                                    | 199.62                                    | 276.89                                    | 184.82                                    | 167.38                    |
| 14       | Madhya            | 580.99                                    | 561.92                                    | 504.08                                    | 827.55                                    | 472.20                                    | 362.85                    |

| 15    | Pradesh Maharashtra   |   803.11 |   981.85 |   994.69 | 1002.50   | 490.75           | 639.76   |
|-------|-----------------------|----------|----------|----------|-----------|------------------|----------|
| 16    | Manipur               |    24.8  |    20.51 |    21.92 | 39.00     | 16.79            | 0.00     |
| 17    | Meghalaya             |    64.87 |    77.34 |    78.36 | 87.34     | 85.65            | 47.96    |
| 18    | Mizoram               |    20.18 |    18.89 |    20.48 | 23.13     | 8.93             | 19.97    |
| 19    | Nagaland              |    17.76 |    28.62 |    22.79 | 27.44     | 14.73            | 22.19    |
| 20    | Orissa                |   419.27 |   395.57 |   403.59 | 583.01    | 482.09           | 279.95   |
| 21    | Punjab                |   143.31 |   152.5  |   138.56 | 217.69    | 191.46           | 100.00   |
| 22    | Rajasthan             |   411.07 |   420.43 |   472.53 | 711.00    | 531.06           | 393.94   |
| 23    | Sikkim                |     8.81 |     8.81 |     8.17 | 8.41      | 5.01             | 8.29     |
| 24    | Tamil Nadu            |   425.06 |   420.55 |   431.21 | 492.22    | 232.65           | 250.27   |
| 25    | Telangana             |   154.95 |   157.57 |   188.21 | 45.24     | 43.35            | 81.36    |
| 26    | Tripura               |    51.19 |    53.39 |    55.99 | 62.21     | 77.19            | 30.47    |
| 27    | Uttarakhand           |    97.14 |    94.78 |   102.73 | 130.24    | 124.78           | 50.12    |
| 28    | Uttar Pradesh         |  1004.75 |  1127.72 |  1182.02 | 2071.66   | 1998.06          | 700.11   |
| 29    | West Bengal           |   971.46 |   917.1  |  1071.03 | 1343.31   | 1394.12          | 842.37   |
| 30    | A&N Islands           |     3.89 |     5.85 |     7.55 | 6.49      | 5.40             | 0.00     |
| 31    | Chandigarh            |     6.69 |    10.63 |     8.84 | 13.39     | 17.22            | 10.20    |
|       | D&N Haveli            |     5.38 |     9.33 |     5.73 | 13.08     | 12.21            |          |
| 32    | Daman & Diu           |     3.32 |     3.04 |     2.58 | 112.97    | 44.04            | 7.22     |
| 33    | Delhi                 |    52.95 |    98.08 |   103.2  |           |                  | 74.29    |
| 34    | Lakshadweep           |     1.18 |     1.25 |     0.99 | 0.33      | 0.00             | 0.00     |
| 35    | Ladakh                |     0    |     0    |     1.22 | 5.56      | 3.77             | 2.01     |
| 36    | Puducherry            |     4.02 |     5.16 |     2.9  | 5.03      | 3.73             | 0.00     |
| TOTAL | TOTAL                 |  9090.68 |  9512.35 |  9700.04 |           | 12874.0110226.75 | 6758.85  |

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