The alarming picture of poverty in India

One in three of the world's malnourished children is in India, more even than in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a United Nations study.

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Despite significant economic progress in the past decade, India is home to about 25 percent of the world's hungry poor.
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India ranks 65th out of 79 countries on the Global Hunger Index, a new report by the International Food Policy Research Institute.

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The International Food Policy Research Institute report has sharply criticised India for not moving fast enough to reduce malnourishment, and has said that its nutritional indicators are far worse than its economic indicators merit.

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According to the findings of the Global Hunger Index 2012 by  the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), India's latest score in the Hunger Index (GHI) has once again returned to the 1996 levels, after showing a minor deterioration between 1996 and 2001.

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In 1990, India's GHI score as monitored by IFPRI was 30.3, which fell to 22.6 in 1996.  But again rose to 24.2 in 2001 and stood at 22.9 in 2012, much closer to 1996 levels. The lower the index, lower is number of incidence of hunger.

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Overall, India is ranked 65th among 79 major countries where hunger is prevalent, much below smaller nations like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan and Nepal.

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In the IFPRI's index, hunger is measured through three indicators, which are given equal weight: undernourishment, indicated by the proportion of undernourished people in total population; the proportion of children under five who are underweight; and the mortality rate of children under five. 

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India's progress since 1990 in overall undernourishment has been minimal, though it has improved nourishment of children under five (by 36 per cent) and mortality of children under five (by a substantial 82 per cent). 

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In India, 43.5 per cent of the children under five are underweight, which accounts for almost two-thirds of the country's alarmingly high GHI score.

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From 2005-2012, India is ranked second to last on child underweight -- below Ethiopia, Niger, Nepal and Bangladesh.

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A UNICEF study also shows that a total of 58 per cent of children under five surveyed were stunted.

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According to government figures, around 43 per cent of children under the age of five years are malnourished and more than half of all pregnancy women aged between 15 and 49 years suffer from anaemia.

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Every day around 3,000 Indian children die from illnesses related to malnutrition.

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The states that suffer from hunger and malnutrition the most include Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh

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In 2011, World Bank stated 32.7% of the total Indian people fall below the international poverty line of $ 1.25 per day (PPP) while 68.7% live on less than $2 per day.

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According to 2010 data from the United Nations Development Programme, an estimated 37.2% of Indians live below the country's national poverty line.

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A 2010 report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) states that 8 Indian states have more poor than 26 poorest African nations combined which totals to more than 410 million poor in the poorest African countries.

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According to a new poverty Development Goals Report, as many as 320 million people in India and China are expected to come out of extreme poverty in the next four years, while India's poverty rate is projected to drop to 22% in 2015.

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The latest UNICEF data shows that 42 per cent of the nation's children under five years of age are underweight.