Addressing a FICCI event in Hyderabad, Union Minister Irani denounced the Global Hunger Index, which ranked India 111, behind Pakistan and other neighbours.
Union Minister Smriti Irani said women are not 'handicapped' during periods, do not need menstural leave.
Union Minister Smriti Irani has stirred a hornet’s nest by denouncing the Global Hunger Index (GHI) that ranked India way below its neighbours, including Pakistan.
Speaking at a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) conclave in Hyderabad on Thursday, 19 October, she presented her version of how the GHI — “which many people say is a hogwash” — was calculated.
They just call up a small cross-section of the people and ask if they are hungry, she opined.
“They make the index, here in India, by calling 3,000 people out of 140 crore people and asking them if they are hungry. That index is saying Pakistan is doing better than India, can you imagine?” the actor-turned-politician contended.
Irani was addressing a session on the “Future Role of Women in India” when she decried the GHI.
To drive in her point, she explained: “Now trust me, I left my house in Delhi at 4 in the morning. I caught a flight at 5 to Kochi. I attended a conclave there and caught a 5 o’clock flight to participate in this programme. When I get to anything called food, it will be 10. If you call me anytime during the day, and ask if I am hungry, I’ll say, ‘Oh yes, I am”!”
On Thursday, the minister attended a conclave organised by a leading Malayalam news television channel in Kochi.
Her argument was that the GHI did not present the true India story.
Contradicting the minister’s statement, experts opined that hunger exists in the country. Slamming Irani and the Union government, a medical scientist went to the extent of saying that poor children bogged down by hunger do not write articles or letters to the prime minister.
“…they whine for a while and go to sleep, famished and whimpering,” she said.
According to the Global Hunger Index-2023 released on 12 October, India, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, ranked 111 out of 125 countries, behind its neighbours, Sri Lanka (60), Nepal (69), Bangladesh (81), and Pakistan (102).
Apart from Afghanistan and Haiti, 12 sub-Saharan African countries fared worse than India. In 2022, India was ranked 107 out of 121 countries, and 101 among 116 countries in 2021.
The minister’s statement stunned the scientific community. The Opposition Congress found Irani, the Minister for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs, “shameless” and “an embarrassment”. Some doctors took to X, formerly Twitter, to call the minister out for her “ignorance”.
Several others felt that the minister trivialised a grave issue and exhibited a lack of understanding about how such indices were calculated.
Within hours of publishing the GHI, the Government of India questioned its authenticity, saying the methodology employed was flawed.
“Three out of four indicators used for the calculation of the index are related to the health of children, and cannot be representative of the entire population,” it said in a statement on 12 October.
The government also claimed that “the fourth and most important indicator, ‘Proportion of Undernourished (PoU) Population’ is based on an opinion poll conducted on a small sample size of 3,000”.
Experts were quick to note that India was the only country to raise objections. The Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, the two non-profits based in Ireland and Germany that prepared the peer-reviewed report clarified to The Wire that the conclusion was not just based on data collected over the phone.
The researchers had also taken into account “the average per capita availability of food as obtained through carefully constructed food balance sheets. Food balance sheets are based primarily on data officially reported by member-countries, including India [Emphasis supplied],” The Wire quoted Miriam Wiemers, Senior Policy Advisor at Welthungerhilfe.
Incidentally, India had flayed the two previous reports as well.
The report-makers categorically refuted the Indian government’s charges, and provided explanations point-by-point.
Was the date collected telephonically?
No, the Global Hunger Index, despite its own criticism of the methodology, does not definitely collect data by “calling people and asking ‘are you hungry?”
What is Global Hunger Index?
It is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels, reflecting multiple dimensions of hunger over time. So, it is not just about “being hungry”. It is calculated annually by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Concern Worldwide, and Welthungerhilfe.
Each country’s GHI score is calculated based on a formula that combines four indicators that together capture the multidimensional nature of hunger:
Undernourishment: To check the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the population. This reflects the share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient.
Child Stunting: The share of children, aged below five, who have low height for their age. Stunting is a sign of chronic undernutrition and can result from malnutrition in early childhood or even from malnutrition in the uterus itself.
Child Wasting: Proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from weight loss, often a result of acute food shortages or diseases.
Child Mortality: Checks the share of children who die before their fifth birthday, reflecting in part the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.
The GHI is arrived at by combining these indicators into a single index number that reflects the multidimensional nature of hunger. Each of the four component indicators has an equal weight in the overall index. The values are interpreted into:
0-9: Low hunger
10-19.9: Moderate hunger
20-34.9: Serious hunger
35-49.9: Alarming hunger
50 and above: Extremely alarming hunger.
These classifications provide a quick way to gauge hunger severity in different regions and countries, helping policy makers and development practitioners to focus resources on areas in great need.
India’s score of 28.7 indicated a serious level of hunger.
Minister Irani’s statement at the FICCI event appalled many. Chairperson of the Congress’s Social Media & Digital Platforms of Indian National Congress Supriya Shrinate wondered what was more shameful: “Your level of ignorance or your insensitivity at display,” she asked on X.
“Do you honestly think Global Hunger Index is calculated by calling up people and asking them if they are hungry!!??? You are the Women and Child Development Minister in the Government of India. It’s appalling to hear you. Frankly, you are an embarrassment,” the former journalist exclaimed.
Shrinate went on to explain how GHI was calculated: “Madam Minister, a country’s Global Hunger Index is very heavily based on 4 indicators.” After elaborating the indicators, she pointed out that they were also included to assess progress towards United Nations Sustainable Goals.
“And please don’t make a mockery of hunger – you are an extremely powerful and entitled woman, a minister in the Government of India for heaven’s sake! There are enough and more meals available on the flights you board and the places you visit,” she took a dig at Irani’s citing her hopping across states on a hungry stomach.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi taunted Irani. “Hardly having the time to eat = Hardly having food to eat. If arrogance had a face, it would be Mantriji,” she wrote on X.
Denouncing Irani’s remark, DMK Parliamentarian and the party’s deputy general secretary Kanimozhi said it was painful to see the Union minister mock the GHI without understanding its implications.
“This raises serious questions about the competency of the BJP government in addressing malnutrition, inadequate food distribution, and child mortality,” the lawmaker said.
It is painful to see the Minister of Women and Child Development mocking the Global Hunger Index without understanding its implications. This raises serious questions about the competency of the BJP government in addressing malnutrition, inadequate food distribution, and child… pic.twitter.com/raFk06jpRD
— Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) October 21, 2023
Chennai-based Dr Mohammed Hussain J said he felt ashamed over the ignorance of Indian politicians.
“As a doctor who studied about these indices in depth in our MBBS (Social and Preventive Medicine) it hurts. As a citizen, I feel ashamed on the ignorance of our politicians on science and health [sic],” he tweeted.
Dr Hussain explained with the help of data how the GHI was calculated, and added: “As our minister @smritiirani says, this report is not based on a random company calling you in the morning and asking are you hungry. This is a blatant lie which is unacceptable and unbelievable.”
His post soon went viral. While many agreed with Dr Hussain’s detailed analysis and shared statistics from the hunger index, some others backed the minister. He was not amused by people coming in defence of Irani.
“It is alarming to see people defending this speech which is a serious issue for a developing nation. It is imperative that we establish the boundary between science and blind nationalism. Science doesn’t know politics, religion, region or caste. It is the same for each and every individual on the planet,” Dr Hussain told South First.
“The real path to becoming a superpower lies in using genuine scientific knowledge and not resorting to pseudoscience or digressing from important issues,” he added.
As a doctor who studied about these index in depth in our MBBS (Social and Preventive medicine) it hurts. As a citizen I feel ashamed on the ignorance of our politicians on science and health.
Global Hunger index (2023) India ranks 111 out of 125 countries in terms of ‘hunger.… pic.twitter.com/uDe0cBWpLq
— The Cancer Doctor (@DoctorHussain96) October 20, 2023
Food and nutrition policy expert Veena Shatrugna has been in a state of disbelief ever since she came across Irani’s statement.
Pointedly questioning the minister’s understanding, she said 36 percent of children in India were stunted, around 19 percent were wasted, and 32 percent were underweight. These National Family Health Survey (NFHS) figures, she emphasised, indicated prolonged hunger.
“Being the most vulnerable, children often bear the brunt of food scarcity,” former deputy director of ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition Shatrugna described the grim reality of hungry children who cry and beg for food, but go to bed with tears drying on their cheeks.
“When children don’t get enough food, they whine for a while and go to sleep famished and whimpering. They don’t write letters to the prime minister. They just stop growing. So if you see the height, it’s a message to the nation that there is not enough food,” she told South First.
“The children don’t know to write letters and publish articles. It (shunted growth) is a sign for us, the government to realise the the fact that they are not getting enough food,” the nutrition expert stated.
The medical scientist further questioned the Union and state governments’ repeated claims that rice is being provided through the public distribution system. “It is not enough,” she asserted while punching holes in the common misconception that eradication of hunger alone is enough for a sustained development.
“I might give a child 500 grams of rice. Children need eggs, milk, vegetables, and fruits,” she explained the requirements for having a healthy generation.
Shatrugna raised a pertinent question — and answered it herself: “Why only rice for poor children? It is the result of the stunted understanding of the government and ministers. It is a conscious disregard of hunger stalking the children of this nation.”
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