Condition 'serious': India slips 45 points in Global Hunger Index since 2014

India has slipped 45 ranks in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) since 2014. In the latest 2017 result, India is ranked 100 among 119 countries.

The country has slipped three notches since last year's rank of 97^th. Its current rank put the country behind less developed countries like Bangladesh, Iraq. With a 31.4 score in the GHI India is at the high end of the "serious" category.

Over three years, the country slipped from 55^th position to the current 100^th rank. The index shows that more than a fifth of Indian children under the age of five are malnourished and weigh too little for their height, reported the Business Standard.

India ranked third-worst among all the Asian countries, better only than Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the body that prepared the GHI report.

Of the 19 South, East and Southeast Asian countries ranked in the report, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and North Korea have the worst Global Hunger Index scores in Asia, reported BS.

According to the index, a score of 9.9 or lower denotes low hunger; while scores between 35.0 and 49.9 denote alarming hunger, and a score of 20-34.9 means 'serious' problem of hunger.

The report stated that as of 2015-16, 21 percent of India's children suffered from child wasting (low weight and height), which went up by a percent from 2005-2006. Other than India, only three countries showed child wasting above 20 percent, the reported noted.

P K Joshi, director of IFPRI director for South Asia, said that despite efforts, a large number of poor in India are at the risk of malnourishment in 2017, primarily due to drought and structural deficiencies.

"With a GHI score that is near the high end of the serious category, it is obvious that a high GDP growth rate alone is no guarantee of food and nutrition security for India's vast majority. Inequality in all its forms must be addressed now if we are to meet SDG 2 of Zero Hunger for everyone by 2030," the business daily quoted Nivedita Varshneya, Welthungerhilfe Country Director India as saying.