led intervention much-neededThe Indian government must address poverty and hunger urgently, said The Hindu in an editorial published Monday. Excerpts: A timely reality check on public policies in the developing world, the Global Hunger Index 2010, (GHI) released by the International Food Policy Research Institute, reveals the disturbing fact that the number of hungry people in the world hovers around the one-billion mark. Although this year's estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organisation place the figure at 925 million, barely a year ago, at the height of the recession, “the number of undernourished people crossed one billion.” The recent dip notwithstanding, the messages from the GHI are quite discomforting. For one, there is a striking divide between the haves and the have-nots of the world. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are among the 29 that face either “extremely alarming” or “alarming” levels of hunger. Secondly, glittering economic growth rates do not mean a hunger-free nation; India, with its large economy and robust growth, is ranked among countries that face an “alarming” situation. Thirdly, nothing works like meaningful state-led intervention policies that directly address hunger; Brazil has improved its performance by more than 50 per cent between 1990 and 2010, thanks to effective state intervention. __
