A dubious distinction

Centre and states need to work together to reduce hunger

The latest edition of the Global Hunger Index (GHI), brought out by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), pegs India at 97th among 118 countries. Last year, India was ranked 80th among 104 countries. India's fall in ranking, though, has come despite an improvement in its GHI score because other countries have performed better and it now finds itself in the list of countries facing "serious" GHI levels, as against "alarming" levels until last year. But beyond the actual rank, a quick look at the countries India trails - Nepal (72), Sri Lanka (84) and Bangladesh (90) in the immediate neighbourhood, and Brazil (16), Russia (24), China (29) and South Africa (51) within the BRICS grouping - and the countries India leads - North Korea (98), Pakistan (107), Timor-Leste (110) and Afghanistan (111) - is enough to convey a humbling truth about the massive crisis that has become a mundane fact in India.

The GHI tries to capture the multidimensional nature of hunger and, as such, factors in four indicators: Undernourishment, stunting, wasting, and mortality rates in children under the age of five. Over the past decade, India has taken considerable strides in terms of reducing hunger and malnutrition in the country. For one, rapid economic growth since 2005-06 and till 2011-12 pulled millions out of poverty. Secondly, this very period also saw a concerted push, both at the central and state government levels, to come up with schemes and programmes such as mid-day meals and integrated child development services that tried to actively reduce malnutrition.

However, India's continued status as a laggard in this regard not only shows the severity of the problem but also the limited impact of such schemes. For instance, like most government schemes, there is enough evidence to suggest that mid-day meals or National Food Security Act entitlements are not always implemented efficiently. Add to that the fact that hunger, malnutrition and related issues such as women's health have not yet become drivers of political debate in every state. Some states such as Maharashtra have taken the initiative to institute a nutrition mission. As these efforts have shown results, other states such as Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, too, have flagged off similar missions. Some others such as Odisha are in the process of working out a nutrition strategy.

A look at a nutritional index such as the GHI takes the sheen off India's status as the fastest growing major economy. Just as it is true that India is home to 84 of the world's billionaires, it is also a fact that it houses the second largest population of undernourished people in the world. If India wants to shed this dubious distinction then it must first resolve two issues. One, as a study by Aparna John and Purnima Menon last year showed, the collection of nutrition data suffers from a lack of standardisation. Consequently, despite numerous surveys - from Unicef's rapid survey on children to the Hungama survey by Naandi Foundation to annual health surveys - India does not have a comparable set of data. Two, central and state governments need to re-focus their efforts. For instance, depending on the vulnerability, the focus districts for integrated child development services, the National Rural Health Mission as well as Swachh Bharat could be the same for better impact.