Senior AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday took a dig at the USD-5 trillion economy target of the BJP government at the Centre, pointing to India's low ranking in Global Hunger Index.

Sisodia also said India cannot become the number one country in the world unless quality education is ensured for every child.

"The BJP people give speeches of making India 5 trillion economy but we are at 107th place in the Hunger Index....106 countries including even Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh are better than us in providing two square meals," he said in a tweet.

The Women and Child Development Ministry, in a statement, said the matter was taken up with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) not to use such estimates based on FIES (Food Insecurity Experience Scale) survey module data in July 2022 as the statistical output of the same will not be based on merit.

 "Though an assurance was forthcoming that there will be further engagement on this issue, the publication of the Global Hunger Index report irrespective of such factual considerations is regrettable,” the ministry said.

 In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had envisioned to make India a USD 5-trillion economy and global powerhouse by 2024-25.

 India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022 with its child wasting rate at 19.3 per cent, being the highest in the world.

 The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional and national levels. With a score of 29.1, the level of hunger in India has been labelled "serious".

 In Asia, Afghanistan with a rank of 109 is the only country behind India. Neighbouring countries -- Pakistan (99), Bangladesh (84), Nepal (81) and Sri Lanka (64) -- have fared better than India.

 In 2021, India ranked 101 out of 116 countries while in 2020, the country was placed in the 94th position.