Govt says Global Hunger Index exaggerates measure of hunger: Report

The Global Hunger Index exaggerates the measure of hunger, lacks statistical vigour and has problems on multiple counts, Union Health Ministry sources said Tuesday after India stood 107th out of 121 in this year's rankings.

It does not really measure hunger, they said while asserting that the report "deliberately ignores the tremendous efforts made by the government to ensure food security for the population, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic".

Three out of the four indicators used are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population, sources said.

They said that according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) the indicators of undernourishment, stunting, wasting and child mortality do not measure hunger per se as these are not the manifestations of hunger alone.

Many of the measures that are used to evolve an index that measures hunger are probably contextual, the ministry sources said.

Claiming that the Global Hunger Index