Unscientific, Devoid Of Realities, Says Govt Over India's Poor Ranking In Global Hunger Index
Terming it as shocking, the government questioned the "unscientific" methodology used for Global Hunger Index 2021 (GHI) in which India was ranked 101 out of 116 countries.
India was ranked 94th in the ranking a year ago.
In the GHI report, prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organisation Welt Hungerhilfe, India was ranked behind its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal and Sri Lanka.
"The publishing agencies of the Global Hunger Report, Concern Worldwide and Welt Hungerhilfe, have not done their due diligence before releasing the report," the Women and Child Development Ministry said in a statement.
The methodology used by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is "unscientific", the ministry claimed.
"They have based their assessment on the results of a 'four question' opinion poll which was conducted telephonically by Gallup. The scientific measurement of undernourishment would require measurement of weight and height, whereas the methodology involved here is based on Gallup poll based on pure telephonic estimate of the population," it said.
The ministry said the report "completely disregards" the government's massive effort to ensure food security of the entire population during the Covid period, verifiable data on which are available.
"The opinion poll does not have a single question on whether the respondent received any food support from the government or other sources. The representativeness of even this opinion poll is doubtful for India and other countries," it said.
The ministry said it is noted with surprise in the FAO report 'The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021' that other four countries of this region, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, have not been affected at all by COVID-19 pandemic induced loss of job/business and reduction in income levels.
It said that, instead, the nations have been able to improve their position on the indicator 'proportion of undernourished population' by 4.3 per cent, 3.3 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent points, respectively, during the period 2018-20 over 2017-19.
The Global Hunger Report 2021 and FAO report have "completely ignored" the facts available in the public domain, the WCD Ministry added.
The poor ranking is more embarrassing to the government which has faced criticism over the handling of the COVID-19 crisis in the country, which has pushed many more vulnerable people to poverty.
Taking a dig at the government, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, "Congratulations Modi ji for eradicating: 1) poverty 2) hunger 3) making India a global power 4) for our digital economy 5)...so much more. Global Hunger Index: 2020: India ranked 94. 2021: India ranks 101."
Referring to the index, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said now "we are way behind our neighbours Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan".?
Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the government should fight hunger than disputing the data.
"Err... when ranking good... wah bhai wah,when ranking poor... ja bhai jaa. Can't be selective about data as per your convenience. Rather than finding faults, wish GoI gets back to fighting hunger," she said.
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