J&K ranks third in Zero Hunger Index: NITI Aayog

SRINAGAR — On the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of Zero Hunger index, Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (UT) has managed to secure third rank among eight others in the fray.

The Index was revealed by NITI Aayog on Thursday with India’s overall score across SDG improving marginally by six points from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2021.

With the score of 71 points on SDG of Zero Hunger, Jammu and Kashmir’s has overtaken the national average of 47.

The SDG Index states, “To measure India’s performance towards the Goal of Zero Hunger, seven national-level indicators have been identified, which capture three out of the eight SDG targets for 2030 outlined under this Goal.”

It reads that the indicators have been selected based on the availability of data at the sub-national level and to ensure comparability across States and UTs.

The index further reveals that over 97.01 percent of beneficiaries are covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.

Further as per the index, in J&K over 13 percent of children who are less than five years of age are underweight.

“15.5 percent of children up to five years of age who are stunted are in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory. The target has been set to six per cent as this is the corresponding prevalence of stunting in upper-middle-income countries as per the 2019 database of the World Bank,” the index reads.

The SDG index states that in J&K UT, 38.1 percent of pregnant women aged 15-49 years are anemic.