The most interesting reaction in the debate that has erupted in India after the release of this year’s Global Hunger Index is that of the Government of India. India is at number 107 in this index of 120 countries of the world. Last year i.e. in 2021, India was at 101st place and before that in 2020 it was at 94th position. That is, there is a continuation of a sort of decline of six-seven places every year in India’s ranking. Responding to this report, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India said ‘misinformation is being spread about India and it is a part of an ongoing campaign to defame India’. The ministry also said that the ranking which has been made is based on four parameters, in which three parameters are related to children and one standard is based on the opinion of only three thousand people. Rejecting excessive focus on child standards, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said that the government is providing free food grains to 80 crore people.
The response of the Ministry of Women and Child Development is very interesting on two counts. Before considering India’s continuing decline in hunger rankings, it is important to mention why the ministry’s response is interesting. The first thing that the ministry has said is that there is a campaign to defame India all over the world. This is clearly a refutation of the advertisements, publicity of the Government of India and the statements of all the big ministers including the Prime Minister. How many times has Narendra Modi himself said that after becoming the Prime Minister, India’s value has increased in the world, the world listens carefully to India and listens to India. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that no major decision of the world is now taken without the opinion of Prime Minister Modi. Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Prime Minister Modi had stopped the Russo-Ukraine war for the safe evacuation of Indians from Ukraine. Think, whose Prime Minister is so powerful, according to which the world runs, who can run a campaign to defame that country? Either of the two can be the same thing, either India is being maligned or India’s respect has increased all over the world!
The second interesting thing is that the ministry said that out of the four parameters on which the ranking has been prepared, one scale is a sample survey conducted among three thousand people. How can any conclusion be drawn on the basis of sample survey of so few people in such a large country? The question seems to be very valid. But every year when it comes to the global ranking that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most popular leader in the world and he has the approval of 70 percent of the people, has anyone seen any BJP leader questioning it? The name of the organization that declared Prime Minister Modi the most popular leader in the world is ‘Morning Consult’ and the size of its survey is 2,126 people. India has the smallest sample size compared to all other countries. Modi’s declaration of being the most popular leader is based on the opinion of two out of 10 thousand literate people of India. But it is accepted openly and big BJP leaders etc. tell it to the world by tweeting.
Think, an unnamed organization of America makes a ranking by asking the opinion of two thousand people, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to be the most popular leader of the world, then it is accepted with ease. Similarly, when India’s position improved in the Ease of Doing Business ranking prepared by the World Bank, all the ministers, including the Prime Minister, scolded it. However, the Ease of Doing Business ranking was later discontinued as the World Bank found in its investigation that money was rigged by many countries. Despite this, India proudly accepts that ranking. But any ranking issued by agencies affiliated to the United Nations or other reputed institutions, in which India’s rank is lower, it is immediately rejected and it is said that it is part of a campaign to defame India. Think, if America’s company ‘Morning Consult’ or the World Bank based in America are raising the honor of India in some matter, then why will the United Nations organizations run a campaign to defame India? There is a phrase in Hindi for this – Meetha Meetha Gap, Kadva Kadva Thu!
The survey or index in which India will get a good position will be accepted and the index in which India will go down will be rejected. Not good for the future of its citizens. It is like looking at a cat and closing its eyes like a pigeon. Crisis does not end and is not resolved by the denial of the problem or problem. If the government goes ahead and accepts the problem, then only its solution will be found. The problems which are visible with the naked eye, are being denied by the government and the ruling party. Institutions around the world have highlighted the decline in India in many areas, including the state of democracy, freedom of the press, the human rights situation, the state of hunger and malnutrition, the state of religious freedom.
Reports from different institutions come out at regular intervals and global rankings are released, in which India’s position is showing a decline in most. Many reports in this are very worrying. Like the latest ranking of hunger, which states that the situation of most countries in South Asia is better than India. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh are also ranked better than India. In the global index of hunger, India has got only 29.1 points out of a hundred, in 2000 it was 38.8. In India, 19.3% of children under the age of five are those whose weight is less in proportion to their height, that is, they are malnourished. This is a bigger figure than any other country in the world. Would it make sense to dismiss it or ignore it as a campaign of defamation? The Global Hunger Report is prepared by Concern Worldwide of Ireland and Welt Hunger Highlife of Germany, which the civilized countries of the world take very seriously. Instead of rejecting it, India should also take it seriously and initiate reforms.
