Introduction

Extreme hunger and malnutrition continue to be a major impediment to many countries' growth. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were approved by the United National Assembly in September 2015 and predesigned to be accomplish by 2030 as an Agenda for Sustainable Development, a determination intended at altering our planet. Sustainable development goals have comprehensive assortment of 17 objectives targeted at enlightening a country's social, economic, and environmental conditions. The 2nd goal is Zero hunger of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to attain Zero Hunger by 2030, with the goal of ensuring that everyone has access to adequate food. As per UN Report, 821. Million (1in 9) to be chronically undernourished by 2018, up from 811 million in 2017 (UN Report, 2019).

India has a significant economic growth in recent years and produces enough to feed its population, but still the country have194.4 Million i. e.14.5% people are undernourished state (FAO). According to theMortality etc.Global Nutrition Report 2019, 20.8% children underweight and 51.4% of women are anemic. The analysis of NFHS-4 also reveals this problem.

According to NITI Aayog Sustainable Development Goals 2019, in the past two years, more Indians have fallen into poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-16. For India the zero hunger challenge is extremely relevant. Objectives

• To highlights the current status of India in Global Hunger Index.

• To highlight the challenges to achieve zero hunger target

• To suggest the measures to overcome this serious issue.

Research Methodology

The paper is based on secondary data: Global Hunger Index Report 2019, journals, articles, web sites, internet survey reports etc. related to this issue.

Global hunger Index

Global hunger index is a tool that is planned to measure and trajectories hunger universally as well as by region and country. The Global Hunger Index is calculated yearly and its outcomes appear in a report issued in October every year. The International Food Policy Research (IFPRI) measures Global Hunger Index scores every year to assess progress or the lack thereof, in fighting with hunger. In 2019, Global Hunger Index the position of India in world ranking is 102 out of total 117 qualifying countries, with a score of 30.3%, it shows that India suffers from a level of hunger in serious situation. There are various Indicators of Global Hunger Index for malnutrition, Child Wasting, Child Stunting, Child

Rank of India in GHI as compared to other countries 2019

It is clear from the figure 1.2 that in Global Hunger Index India ranked102 out of total qualifying 117 countries with the serious hunger condition of India. Neigherhood coutries Sri Lanka stands 66^th Myammar 69th, Nepal 73rd, Bangladesh 88th, Pakistan 94th were also in a serious hunger level. India has better score than Brazil i.e.1.5,Russia 5.8 and China 6.5 moved to a low severity category

Status of India since 2014

The above figure shows that according to Global Hunger Index 2019, the rank of India is 102 out of 117 nations and categorized as a nation with serious hunger level. The score stands at 30.3, at a marginal improvement over the previous year 2018 at 31.1. Since 2014 India’s ranking has slipped dramatically as high as 55 at 17.8 score, subsequently plumping to 80 at 29.9,97 in 2016 at 28.5, 100 in 2017 at 31.4, and 103 in 2018 at 31.1 score with a continuous serious level of hunger.

Government Initiatives

The Govt. of India has taken significant steps to achieve SDGs Zero hunger target with various schemes and programmes as follows:

Food and Nutrition Schemes

The National Food Security ACT, 2013.

• Integration Child Development Services.

• The Programs of nutrition meal to children in primary schools.

• Antyodoya Anna Yojna

• Public Distribution System

• POSHAM MAAH Abhiyan

Production and Climate Change

• The National Mission on Sustainable Agricultures.

• Agro Forestry Program Medh per Pedto quickly increase plantation.

• Parampragat Krishi VikasYojana (PKVY)

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal BeemaYojana

• Pandit Deandayal Unnat Krishi ShikshaYojana and other educational initiatives.

• Massive irrigation, soil and water harvesting programs

UN Support

The United Nations supports Government efforts to scale up nutritional services, improve nourishing and caring practices at home and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the safety nets under the National Food Security Act, and work towards raising farmers income for meagre and marginal farming household, the group offers support and strengthening livelihood and agricultural dimensions of antipoverty programmes as under:

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

• National Rural Livelihood Mission

To hold a National Consultation on wheat flour protection, the group has cooperated with the Ministry of Health and Family welfare and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India organize a workshop on encouraging or a National Food Fortification Policy led by the Food and Agriculture Organization(F.A.O), United Children’s fund(U.N.I.C.E.F), International Labour Organization (I.L.O), International Fund for Agriculture(I.F.D.A), United Nation Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of the women( U.N Women), International Organization for Migration(I.O.M), United Nations Educational ,Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) and World Food Programmes (W.F.P). United Nations Development Programmes (U.N.D.P),

United Nation India (2019) Challenges

Despite of various programmes and initiatives and UN support, thecountry has a serious hunger with the following challenges:

• Poverty Conflicts

• Problem of Population Growth

• Lack of Sustainable Food system

• Unemployment

• Illiteracy

• Gender Inequality

• Impact of social change due to climate change, social, demographic and environmental degration.

• Wastage of food

• Improper Implementation of Government initiatives and programs

• Poor Sanitation Conditions

• Poor Financial Conditions of farmers

• Inefficient Public Distribution system (Sahu 2019)

• Lack of Agricultural Development

Way forward or suggestions

To eliminate this serious issue the following steps should follow:

• Sustainable Food

• Food Donations

• Empowerment of poor families

• Urban Farming

• Women Empowerment

• Government Intervention

• Education opportunities

• Social Issues

• Birth Control Education

• Provide Health conditions

• Improve Child feeding practices.

• Safety Net Programs

• Improve Storage capacity of Food

Conclusion

From the above study it is clear that according to Global Hunger Index 2019, among the 117 countries, India has a serious level of hunger with

102 rank and 30.3 score in Huger Severity Scale. While there is significant economic growth and enough food to feed its population, still the country is facing the challenge of extreme hunger and malnutrition with home to 25% of the world hungry population. The challenge of zero hunger seems to be unattainable goal of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. To achieve this goal India requires a holistic approach ensuring accessible and nutritious food to reduce hunger and malnutrition with the proper investment in agriculture, changes in production and consumption pattern and effective implementation of safety net programmes by the Government at Macro and Micro Level in achieving the Zero Hunger Goal SDGs by 2030.

References

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