No state/UT reported starvation deaths: Centre informs Parliament

New Delhi: The government has informed the Parliament that there has been no death in the country caused by starvation.

Responding to a starred question in the Lok Sabha on whether the country is still facing the problem of starvation deaths, Union Minister for Food and Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal said, "No sir. Not a single state government or Union Territory administration has reported any incident of death due to starvation."

Goyal's response came just months after India was ranked 107th out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022, with its child-wasting rate at 19.3 per cent, the highest in the world.

In 2021, India was ranked 101st but slipped further in the index that tracks hunger globally. The report had come out in October 2022.

Goyal's statement is also in stark contrast to the Central government's response to the Supreme Court in September 2022, when it had informed that 69 per cent deaths in children under five years were due to malnutrition and malnourishment.

It had also told the apex court that 'hungry Indians' have gone up from 19 crore to 35 crore now.

The Supreme Court had asked the Central government to work with the states to provide data on starvation deaths, hunger and malnutrition across the country.

The government had also rejected the Global Hunger Report 2022, saying that a consistent effort was being made to taint India's image as a nation that does not fulfil the food security and nutritional requirements of its population.