Lok Sabha Question No. 927 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-03
Subject: Global Hunger Index 2021
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: DNV Senthilkumar. S., V. Kalanidhi, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Balubhau (Alias Suresh Narayan) Dhanorkar, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Reddeppa Nallakonda Gari, S. Jothimani, Ravneet Singh, Behanan Benny, Beesetti  Venkata Satyavathi, A. Chellakumar, Kani K. Navas, K. Muraleedharan, Chinta Anuradha, Maddila  Gurumoorthy, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Ratansinh Magansinh Rathod, Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, M V V Satyanarayana, Goddeti Madhavi, Mohammad Jawed, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Su Thirunavukkarasar, Vijayakumar (alias) Vijay Vasanth, Sanjeev Kumar Singari, Kumbakudi Sudhakaran, Talari Rangaiah, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.927

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2021

## GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX 2021

## 927. DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR. S.:

DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

SHRIMATI KANIMOZHI KARUNANIDHI:

SHRI BALUBHAU ALIAS SURESH NARAYAN DHANORKAR:

SHRI MAGUNTA SREENIVASULU REDDY:

SHRI N. REDDEPPA:

MS. S. JOTHIMANI:

SHRI RAVNEET SINGH BITTU:

SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

DR. A. CHALLAKUMAR:

SHRI K. NAVASKANI:

SHRI K. MURALEEDHARAN:

SHRIMATI CHINTA ANURADHA:

SHRI MADDILA GURUMOORTHY:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE:

SHRI RATANSINH MAGANSINH RATHOD:

SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

SHRI M. V. V. SATYANARAYANA:

SHRIMATI GODDETI MADHAVI:

DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:

SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

SHRI THIRUNAVUKKARASAR SU:

SHRI VIJAYKUMAR (ALIAS) VIJAY VASANTH:

DR. SANJEEV KUMAR SINGARI:

SHRI KUMBAKUDI SUDHAKARAN:

SHRI TALARI RANGAIAH:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

SHRI T. R. BAALU:

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

- (a) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that India stands at 101 position out  of  116  countries  on  the  basis  of  total  undernourished  population  as  per  Global Hunger Index 2021 and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has undertaken any study on under-nourishment of women and children at regular intervals and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether as per this report, child wasting and child stunting has remained unchanged in 2021 as compared to 2020 and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has formulated any action plan to tackle the issue of under nourishment of women and children and check malnourishment deaths in the country, if so, the details thereof along with the progress and achievement made so far in this regard; and
- (e) the steps being taken by the Government to achieve Zero Hunger targets and improve the raking of the country in Global Hunger Index?

## ANSWER

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

(a)   Yes,  Sir.  As  per  Global  Hunger  lndex  2021  report  prepared  by  'Welthungerhilfe'  and 'Concern  Worldwide',  India's  score  is  27.5  and  it  has  ranked  101  among  116  countries. Global Hunger Index is based on four indicators - Undernourishment, Child Stunting, Child Wasting and Child Mortality.

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 used in the GHI report are sourced from international agencies which are not updated as per the latest data available in the country. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the data source agency for the indicator 'Prevalence of Undernourishment',  has  relied  on  the  opinion  poll  conducted  telephonically,  which  has completely  disregarded  Government's  economic  response  to  Covid-19  of  providing  free foodgrains to 80 crore National Food Security Act beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna, and given an unacceptable estimate for India for the triennium period 2018-2020. The 4 questions asked in the poll have no links to availability of food or dietary energy.  FAO's  estimates  on  'Prevalence  of  Undernourishment'  in  India  for  the  triennium periods  2015-17,  20016-18,  2017-19  are  14.8%,  14.5%  and  14.0%  respectively,  which clearly  show  a  declining  trend.  India  has  not  faced  any  major  challenges  on  the  food production and supply part in the recent past which would adversely affect the 'Prevalence of Undernourished' score. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, have improved on this  indicator during the triennium period 2018-20, signifying that these countries have not been  affected  at  all  by  Covid-19  pandemic  induced  loss  of  job/business  and  reduction  in income levels. These are counterintuitive in view of higher mortality rates due to Covid-19 in 2 countries during 2020. Thus, the assessment made by FAO does not reflect the ground reality and is not worthy of consideration.

- (b) Government conducts National Family Health Survey (NFHS) at regular intervals. As per recently  released  NFHS  report,  Child  Stunting  in  the  country  has  decreased  from  38.4% (NFHS-4,  2015-16) to  35.5%  (NFHS-5,  2019-21)  and  Child  Wasting  has  decreased  from children has gone down from 35.8% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 32.1% (NFHS-5, 2019-21).

21.0% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 19.3% (NFHS-5, 2019-21). Further, percentage of underweight (c)  As  per  GHI  2021  report,  child  wasting  at  17.3%  and  child  stunting  at  34.7%,  have

- remained unchanged in 2021 as compared to 2020.

(d)  The  Government  is  implementing  several  schemes  and  programs  under  the  Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. All these schemes address one or other aspects related to nutrition and have the potential to improve nutritional outcomes in the country. For alleviation of malnutrition, Government has announced Mission Poshan 2.0 to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition. Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen delivery and leverage technology to improve governance. Government has advised States/UTs to ensure that the quality  of  supplementary  nutrition  conforms  to  prescribed  standards  laid  down  under  the

Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and regulations made there under. States/UTs  have  been  advised  to  promote  use  of  AYUSH  systems  for  prevention  of malnutrition and related diseases. A programme to support development of Poshan Vatikas at  Anganwadi  centres  to  meet  dietary  diversity  gap  leveraging  traditional  knowledge  in nutritional practices has also been taken up. Malnutrition  is  not  a  direct  cause  of  death  among  children  under  five  years  of  age. However,  it  can  increase  morbidity  and  mortality  by  reducing  resistance  to  infections. Malnourished children are more vulnerable to any infection than normal children, therefore, data regarding child mortality due to malnutrition is not maintained by GoI at central level. Overall Under-five mortality rate has reduced from 49.7% to 41.9% during the span of four year since 2015-16. (e)  In  order  to  achieve  zero  hunger  target,  Government  has  implemented  National  Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013, which provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and  upto  50%  of  the  urban  population  for  receiving  highly  subsidized  foodgrains  under Targeted  Public  Distribution  System  (TPDS),  which  as  per  census  2011  comes  to  a maximum  of  81.35  crore.  Eligible  households,  which  comprises  Antyodaya  Anna  Yojna (AAY) households and priority households, are entitled to receive food grains at Rs 1/2/3 per kg for coarse-grains/wheat/rice. While priority households are entitled to receive 5 kg per  person  per  month,  AAY  households,  which  constitute  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  are entitled to receive 35 kg of foodgrains per household per month. At present, the Act is being implemented  in  all  the  States/UTs.  The  coverage  under  the  Act  is  substantially  high  to

ensure that all the vulnerable and needy sections of the society get its benefit.

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