Hunger and undernutrition remain stubborn even as India crosses lower-middle-income status. With reference to the National Food Security Act 2013 and the Global Hunger Index controversy, comment.

Introduction:

The National Food Security Act 2013 covers 81.35 crore beneficiaries with subsidised foodgrains, anchored in PUCL v. Union of India (2001) reading the right to food into Article 21; the Global Hunger Index 2024 ranked India 105 out of 127 — a ranking the Ministry of Women and Child Development has contested on methodology.

Statutory base: NFSA 2013 entitles 75% rural and 50% urban households to 5 kg per person per month at Rs 3 (rice), Rs 2 (wheat) and Re 1 (millets); the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana has been extended to December 2028 to keep free foodgrains flowing post-pandemic, the largest free-grain commitment in the world.

GHI methodology: The four indicators — undernourishment, child wasting (NFHS-5 19.3% under-5), child stunting (NFHS-5 35.5%) and child mortality — capture long-term outcomes; MoWCD argues that wasting reflects multi-year deprivation, not current hunger alone, and that the survey base is non-representative for a country of India's scale.

Gaps: One Nation One Ration Card portability under Section 12(2)(d) NFSA is operational across all 36 States and UTs since 2019, but migrant access remains uneven; PDS leakages and Aadhaar authentication failures depress targeting; POSHAN Tracker for Anganwadis has improved monitoring without solving supply.

Way forward / Conclusion:

Diversify the PDS basket to millets and pulses, integrate Anganwadi take-home rations, and publish district-level GHI-style nutritional data to convert NFSA from a calorie scheme to a measurable nutrition entitlement.