/ AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Children are hungrier in Narendra Modi’s India than in Kim Jong-un’s North Korea.
That’s according to the recently published Global Hunger Index (GHI), which ranks India 100 out of the 119 countries surveyed. That’s seven notches below North Korea, and seven notches above the bottom of the list, which is occupied by Afghanistan.
The index includes four components: undernourishment, child mortality, child wasting, and child stunting. The survey finds a “disturbing reality of the country’s stubbornly high proportions of malnourished children” for India.
Apparently, Modi’s magic hasn’t touched India’s hungry children, at least not in a meaningful way.
High levels of hunger among children is a sign of persistent poverty in one of the world’s largest emerging market economies that has experienced rapid economic growth and booming equity markets in recent years.
High levels of child hunger in Modi’s India may come as a surprise to some. Modi’s Administration has been getting high marks from international organizations in a number of metrics. Like international competitiveness, ease of doing business, innovation, and credit rating, as was previously discussed here.
To be fair, persistent hunger among children is a chronic problem for India. And it is part of a bigger problem of rising income inequality in the country.
The article appeared in the www.forbes.com on 4/2/2018