Children dying of malnutrition in Thane just a few kilometres from Mumbai reflect the scale of hunger and starvation in India.
And the new UNICEF report says that India is as bad as Ethiopia when it comes to malnutrition. As per its report:
- India has the highest number of undernourished children in the world at 57 million
- India has the same rate of malnutrition as Ethiopia with 47 per cent of its children undernourished
- Nearly 2.1 million children die of malnutrition every year and India accounts for one third of the world's malnourished children
- This is in stark contrast to Afghanistan that has 39 per cent malnutrition while China has just eight per cent.
The findings show that more girls are malnourished than boys. Government officials say that spending on children is just three per cent of the total budget and they are pushing for a bigger budget in the upcoming 11th five-year plan.
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