In the Global Hunger Index 2019, India had scored 30.3 out of hunger, a one-point improvement from the previous year when it scored 31.1. Out of 117, India came 102 in the list and was ranked lower than its neighbours where Nepal ranked 73, Bangladesh 88 and Pakistan 94 out of the 117 countries.
The score raised great concern for many, especially Indians, who questioned how India could fall down so low when the country was ranked 55 out of 76 nations in 2014, 100 out of 119 nations in 2017, 103 out of 119 countries in 2018 and 102 out of 117 countries in 2019.
A fact check by AltNews showed that this claim of India's dismal numbers was incorrect. The report explained that the massive change in ranks in the list was due to the difference in the tabulation methodology.
The report states that till 2014 countries that earned a GHI score of less than 5 were placed in one table where 44 countries are placed while the other countries were in a separate column. Similar tables were made in 2015 where 13 countries scoring less than 5 were placed on a separate list.
It was from 2016 that all countries were placed in one single table, thus changing the rankings. This explains why India was ranked 55 in 2014 and 102 in 2019. In the 2019 table, 17 countries have scored less than 5 and were placed at the top.
This shows that if the other countries were on the list in the 2014 and 2015 lists, India's ranking would have been 99 in 2014 lost if the 44 countries were added and in 2015, 93 of the 13 countries were added to the initial list.
