Hungry for nutrition

India has to revamp its food security programmes

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020, released last week, has ranked India at a dismal 94 among 107 countries, putting it in the “serious” category, below all its neighbours barring Afghanistan. This is regardless of the fact that India is providing highly subsidised foodgrains to about two-thirds of its population under the National Food Security Act and is running several other poverty-alleviation and food-aid programmes unmatched by any other country. The most notable among the initiatives aimed at directly supplementing food intake are the mid-day meal scheme for school children and the Poshan Abhiyaan (nutrition campaign) for children and mothers.