Parliament Question: Global Hunger Index

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1231 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.02.2026 GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX

1231. Shri. KALYAN BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

(a) whether India has a serious level of hunger with a score of 25.8 in the 2025 global hunger index;

(b) if so, whether it is also a fact that in post covid arena India has dropped from 97 in 2016 to 102 rank in 2025 global hunger index:

(c) whether inspite of making goal of zero hunger by 2030 prevalence of anaemia has been reported at 57.0 percent in women (15-49 years), 59.1 percent in adolescent girls,

52.2 percent in pregnant women in National Health Survey-5, if so, the details thereof, and

(d) the details of the action being taken for the protection and development of children belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC) which has highest minimum dietary diversity failure (79%), Scheduled Castes (77.2%) and Scheduled Tribes (76%) which resulted in child undernourishment, stunting and mortality among such children? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to (d): An index claimed to be Global Hunger Index is published by 3 non-government organizations (viz., Welt 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, safe drinking water, and overall socio-economic conditions. In view of these shortcomings, the methodology adopted by GHIis flawed and, the so-called rankings cannot be taken to reflect hunger level in the overall population.

Targeted Public Distribution System governed under National Food Security Act, 2013

(NFSA) is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State/UT Governments.

Union Government has laid down a robust mechanism to seamlessly distribute the food grains under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) beneficiaries through Fair Price Shops in all the State/UTs. As on 1st Feb 2026, PMGKAY has a coverage of total 79.44 Cr beneficiaries who are receiving free food grains every month.

Secondly, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme is one of the foremost rights based Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented in partnership with the States and Union Territories (UTs) for providing one hot cooked and nutritious meal to all children studying in all Bal Vatikas (just before class-I) and classes I to VIII of all Government and Government-aided schools. The Scheme covers about 11 crore children in around 10.35 lakh schools in all the States/ UTs. The overall responsibility for providing hot cooked and nutritious meal to the eligible children lies with the State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations. There is a provision of 5% of total recurring budget as the flexi component to be used by the States/UTs as per their requirement. It may be used for setting up of School Nutrition Gardens and provision of Supplementary Nutrition interventions viz., Chikki, Eggs, Milk, Fruits and additional food items etc. in identified districts. The States and Union Territory Administrations are encouraged to decide menu suitable to the local conditions within the prescribed nutrition and food norms and to procure locally grown food items like millets, vegetables, condiments etc.

Various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India. Details of these indicators for children since NFHS-1 to NFHS-5 and

Poshan Tracker are given below:

NFHS Survey Underweight % Wasting % Stunting % NFHS-1 (1992-93)* 53.4 17.5 52.0 NFHS-2 (1998-99)** 47.0 15.5 45.5 NFHS-3 (2005-6)*** 42.5 19.8 48.0 NFHS-4 (2015-16)*** 35.8 21.0 38.4 NFHS-5 (2019-21)*** 32.1 19.3 35.5 Poshan Tracker (as on 31st December 2025)*** 13.0 4.0 31.0 * Under 4 years ** Under 3 years *** Under 5 yearsTo address the challenge of malnutrition, Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls (14-18 years, in Aspirational Districts and North-Eastern region) have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan

2.0). It is a Centrally Sponsored Mission, where the responsibility for implementation of various activities lies with the States and UTs. This Mission is a universal self-selecting umbrella scheme open to all eligible beneficiaries, i.e., Children under 6 years of age (including children belonging to Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), pregnant women, lactating mothers till 6 months after childbirth and adolescent girls (14-18 years of age) in Northeastern States and Aspirational Districts of the country. The Mission is being implemented across the country, including tribal and remote areas. Further, to effectively address the issue, a multi-sectoral approach encompassing the dimensions of food, health, water, sanitation and education is essential, and this is being addressed through cross-cutting convergence among more than 18 Ministries and Departments.

Under this Mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls (14-18 years) in accordance with nutrition norms contained in Schedule-II of the National Food Security Act, 2013. These norms have been revised in January 2023. The revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of supplementary nutrition based on the principles of diet diversity and recommend provision of quality protein, healthy fats and 7 essential micronutrients (Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Dietary Folate, Vitamin-A, Vitamin-B6 and Vitamin B-

12). Fortified rice is being supplied under supplementary nutrition programme to meet the requirement of micro-nutrients among women and children. Greater emphasis is laid on the use of millets at least once a week for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take-Home ration at Anganwadi centers (AWCs).

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy to educate people on nutritional aspects as adoption of healthy eating habits requires sustained efforts for behavioural change. State and UTs are conducting and reporting regular sensitisation activities under Jan Andolans during Poshan Maahs and Poshan Pakhwadas celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices and all Anganwadi workers are required to conduct two Community Based Events every month.

The PM JANMAN Mission launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs aims for targeted development of 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) residing in 18 States and a UT. This Mission focuses on 11 critical interventions related to 9 key Ministries including Ministry of Women and Child Development. As on date, a total of 2500 AWCs have been approved for construction under PM JANMAN across the country. Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched Dharti Aaba Janjati Gram Unnat Abhiyan (DAJGUA) aimed at improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities by adopting saturation coverage of tribal families in tribal majority areas and aspirational block ST villages.

*****