The Congress party on Saturday trained its guns on Union minister Smriti Irani who made a bizarre statement on the Global Hunger Index saying that the index is prepared by calling people and asking them if they are hungry. Congress called out Irani for her statement saying it was surprising and shameful to hear such comments.
Speaking at a conference of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani said, “There are indices which do not project the India story and deliberately so.”
“For instance, Global Hunger Index, which many people say is hogwash. 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,” she added further.
Narrating her tight schedule for the day, Irani said if she would have got a call asking if she was hungry, she’d say, “oh yes, I am.”
Congress Hits Back
Reacting to Irani’s statement, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate posted a video of herself on X and called her out for the statement saying it was “deeply concerning.”
“I don’t know if this is your ignorance or insensitivity that you are speaking so lightly on such a sensitive topic like hunger, because being the women and child development minister this a deeply concerning statement,” Shriante said.
“Global Hunger Index is heavily based on four indicators — undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality. So saying that the index has no basis is not just mockery but also very painful,” she said further.
The Congress leader highlighted that all these four indicators are a part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals “which your government is committed to achieve.”
“I don't know whether you dont know these things and if you know then why speaking lies without blinking an eye,” said Shrinate, adding: “you scrape the wound of those who try to survive by eating one square meal a day because of poverty and hunger.”
'GHI Flawed Measure Of Hunger'
This is not the first time that the Union minister has denounced the index. In 2022, during the Parliament’s winter session, Irani said the report is neither appropriate nor representative of hunger prevalent in a country.
"Global Hunger Index (GHI) does not reflect India's true picture as it is a flawed measure of 'Hunger'. It should not be taken at face value as it is neither appropriate nor representative of hunger prevalent in a country," Irani said in a written response to a question by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Kumar Jha.