India's slide in hunger ranking based on data, not opinion poll: German NGO

A German NGO and co-publisher of the Global Hunger Index has rejected Indian government claim that India's slide in ranking was based on an opinion poll conducted by Gallup.

The government on Friday made the allegation after India's ranking dropped seven places in the Global Hunger Index report released last week.

Out of 116 countries, India stands at 101 -- behind all neighboring countries except Afghanistan. Ranking dropped from the 94th position out of 107 countries in 2020.

In an response to NDTV, the NGO, Welthungerhilfe, said that the Gallup opinion poll is not used by the Global Hunger Index, instead undernourishment is measured using data officially presented by India to the UN.

On Friday, the Centre had responded very strongly to the report, calling it "shocking" and "devoid of ground reality".