Global Hunger Index 2019: India ranks below Pakistan, Nepal, China

New Delhi, Oct 16: India has been ranked at the 102nd position among 117 countries on the Global Hunger Index. As per the report, India ranks below many of its neighbouring countries such as Pakistan (94), Bangladesh (88) and Sri Lanka (66) among South Asian nations.

The GHI, now in its 14th year, ranks countries based on four key indicators undernourishment, child mortality, child wasting and child stunting.

"In India, just 9.6 per cent of all children between six to 23 months of age are fed a minimum acceptable diet. As of 2015-2016, 90 per cent of Indian households used an improved drinking water source while 39 per cent of households had no sanitation facilities (IIPS and ICF 2017)," said the report prepared by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

"In 2014 the Prime Minister instituted the 'Clean India' campaign to end open defecation and ensure that all households had latrines. Even with new latrine construction, open defecation is still practiced. This situation jeopardizes the population's health and consequently children's growth and development as their ability to absorb nutrients is compromised," states the report.

The report ranked 117 countries in the developing world, nearly half of which have 'extremely alarming', 'alarming' or 'serious' hunger levels.

Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores less than five.

Zero is the best score and a reading above 100 is the worst. The latter signifies that a country's undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality levels are at the highest level.