Congress has expressed outrage over Union Minister Smriti Irani’s mockery of India’s Hunger Index report.
Smriti Irani, who spoke at a program organized by FICCI in Hyderabad recently, questioned the standards of the global index report. Global Hunger Index reports about India are deliberately false. She said that it does not accurately represent India’s progress.
The video of Smriti Irani’s speech is going viral on social media. “How does the WHO prepare the Hunger Index? The index is determined by phone calls to 30,000 people in a country of 140 crore people asking if they are ‘hungry’. Now, believe me, I left my home in Delhi at 4 AM. I catch a 5 o’clock flight to Kochi. It will be 10 hours from the flight to lunchtime. “If you call me at any time today and ask me if I’m hungry, I’ll say yes,” she joked about the index.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Supriya Srinathe lashed out at Irani’s remarks, saying, “I don’t know what could be more shameful than this. Showing your level of ignorance or your sensitivity in a meeting? You should be ashamed of being the Women and Child Development Minister of India. It is disgusting to hear your words.
“Honourable Minister, the country’s hunger index is determined by factors such as malnutrition, stunted child growth, and infant mortality. Please don’t scoff at hunger. You are an influential minister of the Indian government. There will be plenty and more food service available in the places you visit.”
In the recently released Global Hunger Index 2023, India was ranked 111 out of 125 countries. It fell below Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
Neighboring countries like Pakistan are ranked 102nd, Bangladesh 81st, Nepal 69th, and Sri Lanka 60th in the index.
India scores 28.7 on the hunger index. This indicates a serious level of hunger. The rate of malnutrition in the country is 16.6 percent. The under-five mortality rate is 3.1 percent. According to the report, the anemia problem among women between 15 to 24 years is 58.1 percent.
One of the indicators used in the calculation of Global Hunger Index scores is the increasing prevalence of undernutrition. The number of undernourished people rose from 572 million to around 735 million, the index said.
