Modi government is particularly averse to reliable data. Even the decennial census is not in its priority, So his feeling of disrespect towards the figures can be easily understood. When such figures are available, Then the truth or falsity of the rankings will become self-evident.
The Global Hunger Index was released last week. Like every year, this became an issue of political controversy in India. Although this time India’s ranking showed some improvement – India moved from 111th to 105th position – but this rank is also very low, hence this index again became a tool to corner the Narendra Modi government. The approach of the Modi government has been to reject such reports outright. The government raises questions on the way data is collected for such indices. Whereas it is not that he is averse to every such index. The rankings in which India is seen in a better light are also heavily promoted by this government. In its early years, it had touted India’s rise in the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings as its crowning achievement.
But soon experts made the flaws of that index clear. Many countries including India were accused of systematically influencing it. The controversy grew so much that the World Bank stopped preparing that index. On the other hand, in the last ten years, a worse picture of India has emerged on all the indices related to human development and democratic freedoms. However, experts also believe that many indices are not based on in-depth research. They are part of the expanding NGO culture. NGOs prepare them hastily every year to meet funding needs.
But the reality is that these indices get a lot of publicity in the media around the world. The image of countries is made and spoiled by them. So what is the solution? The solution is that India itself releases data from reliable sources about each of its sectors. But the Modi government is particularly averse to such figures. Even the decennial census is not his priority, so his disrespect towards reliable statistics can be easily understood. When such figures are available, then in their light the truth or falsity of the rankings will become apparent.