Despite an impressive GDP growth rate, India, world’s fifth largest economy (according to World GDP ranking 2024), is still unable to feed a large section of its populace as per the global hunger index. India stands at 105th place among 127 countries of the world, even behind its south Asian neighbours like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, in the index. This is a cause of worry. India must introspect about the prevailing hunger index in the country, which indicates a systematic failure in the public distribution system which is compounded further by economic inequality. It points to a situation where a section of the population has plenty to eat, while a far bigger group has less. This disparity should be addressed immediately to achieve the country’s vision for an inclusive development.
It is not a matter of food production. The Green Revolution in the 1960s and adaptation of new techniques have enabled the country to produce surplus food grains, which was unthinkable when India got Independence. At present, the country produces 332 million tonnes of food grains, which is more than enough to feed the citizens. It is more encouraging as India has achieved this feat at a time when the world fears a large-scale drop in food production due to climate change. Yet, it is sad to note that nearly 14 per cent of the country’s population are undernourished. As per the global hunger index, the number unnourished people stands at a whopping 200 million, which is almost equal to the population of Brazil. This grim state of affairs should be addressed by minimising the economic disparity, if India is serious about becoming a developed country by 2047. To achieve the feat, the country should strengthen its public distribution system to ensure that no citizen goes hungry.
From the country’s hunger index, it is clear that various welfare programmes launched by the government have failed to deliver the desired results due to various lacunas in the implementing process. The authorities should plug these loopholes by checking the siphoning of food meant for the poor. Besides making food available to the targeted section, the government should come up with a mechanism to ensure that people have enough money to purchase food grains. There were instances where state governments made food items available through fair price shops to enable the people to buy essential commodities at a cheaper rate, but eventually failed after an initial success due to lack of purchasing power. This points to the need for a proper distribution system. India should seriously address the hunger issue instead of questioning the methodology used in preparing the Global Hunger Index.