A tragic paradox is that even while democracies are apathetic to mass starvation, they downplay and ignore the fact that the hundreds of million children and adults continue to lead lives of severe undernutrition (hidden hunger) since it hardly provokes a public outcry.
India's placement in the Global Hunger Index 2023 has stirred controversy, with the government terming it "erroneous and having malafide intent."
Every October the Global Hunger Index (GHI) is released. It’s a tool that attempts to measure hunger globally; prepared by European NGOs “Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe”.
A war of words has followed the release of the Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2022 which ranked India at number 107 out of 121 countries.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday hit out at the Central government over India's poor ranking in the International Hunger Index and alleged that the Centre is not ready to accept any international figures.
There is little evidence of basing strategies, for instance, on low-cost, locally-available food, which may provide far greater sustainability and be easier to deliver through ongoing nutrition programmes.
The government ought to be riveted to the social underbelly rather than other issues.
The GHI report was published on October 15 where India was the worst performer among South Asian countries which mostly were ranked between 66 to 94.
India ranked 103 out of 119 countries in the Global Hunger Index published in 2018, dropping three places from the previous year’s index
To ensure a viable democracy, the emphasis should be on a discussion of its essentials, and strengthening of institutions that support democracy, not the party in power. The federated system also places checks and balances on the various levels of government, thereby guarding against an overconcentration of power at the national level. But if the party at the Centre has a brute majority, the federal system becomes a victim.
