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In a vast and diverse country like India, on one hand, food is being thrown away in malls, hotels and restaurants, while on the other hand millions of people are forced to sleep hungry at night.

World Food Day is celebrated every year on October 16th. This day is not just a date, but a reminder that even today, millions of people around us lack adequate food. This day was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a United Nations organization, and in 2025, FAO will celebrate its 80th anniversary. On this special occasion, we once again draw attention to the serious issues of hunger, food waste, and malnutrition. In a vast and diverse country like India, where food is being thrown away in malls, hotels, and restaurants, millions of people are forced to sleep hungry. So, let's find out how many people in India still go to bed hungry. 

How many people still sleep hungry in India?

Even today, more than 190 million Indians go to bed hungry every day. This number is more than the total population of many countries. Nearly 40 percent of food is wasted in India every year, amounting to a waste of approximately ₹92,000 crore. Furthermore, India ranked 101st out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2021. This means that India is among the countries where the problem of hunger is very serious. According to the United Nations, India has the highest number of hungry people in the world. This figure is even higher than that of China, which has a population equal to India. 

Why do so many people go to bed hungry every day?

When we hear that on one hand millions of people are hungry every day and on the other hand crores of tons of food is wasted every year, then this appears to be a serious reason. Every year around 2.5 billion tons of food is wasted across the world. Even before the Corona period, 93 crore tons 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, subsidized grains are provided to millions of people. Apart from this, schemes like Mid Day Meal Scheme, Anganwadi Program, and PDS i.e. Public Distribution System are trying to reduce hunger.