Editorial. India must tackle its malnutrition problem

As in the past, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023, an annual report brought out by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhlife, shows India in unflattering light. For an economy of $3 trillion, it is hard to accept that India ranks 111 out of 125 countries, those with sufficient data to assess GHI scores. Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and Cambodia are much better off. The assessment of ‘hunger’ (malnutrition is perhaps a better term) broadly pertains to the Covid period and a couple of years preceding it. Questions have been raised about the methodology, which includes whether the GHI mislabels serious malnutrition as one of hunger.

The GHI score is based on an aggregation of four indices: undernutrition in terms of calorie intake in the entire population, to which a weight of one-third is ascribed; child stunting and child wasting (a sixth each); and child mortality (a third). On the data regarding stunting, wasting and mortality of children, the parameters are clear. On undernutrition, it is perhaps less so. Undernutrition levels in India are estimated to have risen in 2020-22, over the 2014-16, despite the fact that free grain distribution has been around for long. This seems counter-intuitive. India’s total GHI score of 28.9 is considered ‘serious’ on a scale of 100, where a low GHI score is below 9.9. Broken into its components, undernourishment in India (16.6 per cent of the population) is ‘high’; child wasting (18.7 per cent of under five children) and child stunting (35.5 per cent of under five children) are ‘very high’; while child mortality (3.1 per cent of under five children) is ‘moderate’. India is a dubious first in child wasting (low weight for height) and 15th highest in child stunting (low height for age) — an indicator of malnourishment. This is despite the decline in stunting from 50 per cent in 2000. There has been no real improvement in child wasting levels over 20 years. Child mortality has fallen with better immunisation coverage.

Imperfections in the GHI should not detract from the fact that India needs to fix its malnutrition problem. The FY24 Budget has done well to set aside ₹800 crore for providing subsidised pulses through the PDS and welfare schemes. A shift away from just rice and wheat (five kg or more at present) must be contemplated to include a larger component of pulses and millets. An increase in the food subsidy to address nutritional deficiencies is worth it, as it will bolster human capital in the long run. To this end, procurement of pulses and millets must improve. Endemic pulses inflation, which cannot entirely be explained by the demand-supply gap, should be checked — a phenomenon where farmers appear to get very little.

Community kitchens, mid-day meals have helped alleviate nutritional distress in southern States. It is high time that these deliveries picked up elsewhere, through PPP initiatives if need be. There is no getting away from this policy menu.

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