World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October. This day is not just a date, but a reminder that even today there are millions of people around us who do not get the opportunity to eat a full meal. This day was started through the United Nations organization Food and Agriculture Organization, and in the year 2025, FAO is completing 80 years. On this special occasion, we once again draw attention to the serious issues of hunger, food wastage and malnutrition. In a country as vast and diverse as India, on one hand food is being thrown away in malls, hotels and restaurants, while on the other hand lakhs of people are forced to sleep hungry at night. In such a situation, let us know how many people sleep hungry even today in India.

How many people still sleep hungry in India?

Even today in India, more than 19 crore Indians sleep hungry every day. This number is more than the total population of many countries. In India, about 40 percent of food is wasted every year. Which is a wastage of food worth approximately Rs 92,000 crore. Apart from this, India’s rank in the Global Hunger Index 2021 was 101st among 116 countries. This means that India is among those countries where the problem of hunger is very serious. According to the United Nations, most hungry people in the world live in India. This figure is more than that of China, which is equal to India in population.

Why do so many people sleep hungry every day?

When we hear that on one hand millions of people are hungry every day and on the other hand crores of tonnes of food is wasted every year, then this seems to be a serious reason. Every year around 250 crore tonnes of food is wasted across the world. Only before the Corona period, 93 crore tonnes of food was wasted in the world. Of this, 63 percent was wasted from homes, 23 percent from restaurants and 13 percent from retail shops. In such a situation, under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013, millions of people are given grains on subsidy. Apart from this, schemes like Mid Day Meal Scheme, Anganwadi Programme, and PDS i.e. Public Distribution System are trying to reduce hunger.

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