Parliament Question: Global Hunger Index 2025

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 31 19 TO BE ANSWERED ON 1 1’rH MARCH, 2026 GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX 2025 3119. DR. PRABHA MALLIKARJUN: Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state: (a): whether the Government has examined the findings of the Global Hunger Index 2025, which places India at 102 out of 123 countries and if so, the implications thereof for national food and nutritional security; (b): whether rising food prices and limitdtions in existing price stabilisation mechanisms are adversely impacting access to adequate and nutritious food particularly for poor households, women and children; (c): if so, the details thereof; and (d): the details of the concrete policy measures being taken by the Government to strengthen food security, price stability and nutritional outcomes, in line with constitutional obligations and welfare commitments? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA) (a): As informed by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, an index claimed to be Global Hunger Index (GHI) is published by 3 Non-Government Organizations (viz., Web Hunger Hilfe of Germany; Concern Worldwide of Ireland; and Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict of Germany). It is a flawed measure of ’Hunger' and does not reflect India's true position. Three out of four of its constituent indicators are actually related to health and nourishment levels of children. They cannot be projected to reflect prevalence of hunger in the overall population. Only one indicator, prevalence of undernourishment (PoU), is directly related to hunger, and even this indicator suffers from significant methodological and data limitations. Owing to the probabilistic nature of its estimation and uncertainties in underlying parameters, the precision of PoU estimates is generally low. Two indicators (viz., stunting and wasting) are not measures of hunger, but outcomes of multiple complex factors including sanitation, environmental conditions, disease burden, maternal health, genetics, and food utilisation. Similarly, the indicator Under Five Mortality Rate, is influenced by a wide set of determinants such as access to healthcare„ immunisation coverage, sanitation and hygiene, safc drinking water, and overall socio-economic conditions. In view of these shortcomings, the methodology adopted by GHI is flawed and, the so-' called rankings cannot be taken to reflect hunger level in the overall population.(b) to (d): The Government keeps a close watch on the production and availability of essential commodities through regular reviews by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC). The Committee reviews, on regular basis, the scenario and the indicative trends in prices of essential agri- horticultural commodities and suggests measures to enhance availability through increased domestic production and rationalisation in export-import policies. Further, Department of Consumer Affairs monitors the daily prices of 40 essential food commodities submitted by the 578 price monitoring centres across the country. As per the data, prices of food commodities are stable and under control. The Government has also implemented the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) in all the States/UTs, which aims to supplement the food requirements of upto 7S::/, of the rural and upto 50c% of the urban population. Coverage under the PMGKAY is substantially high to ensure that all the vulnerable and needy sections of the society get its benefit. While Antyod.aya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute poorest of the poor are entitled to 35 kg of foodgrains, per household per month, Priority Households (PHH) are entitled to 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month free of cost foodgrains. At present, 80.56 crore beneficiaries are covered for getting free-of-cost foodgrains under PMGKAY against the intended coverage of 81.35 crore persons (as per the Census 2011).