This can be called the biggest irony of our age — India, despite being among the top food producers in the world, is failing so badly to feed its own population. The Global Health Index ranking — released collaboratively by Concern Worldwide, an Ireland-based humanitarian group; and Welthungerhilfe, a Germany-based NGO — has placed India at the 101st position among 116 countries. Its ranking had been no better in 2020 when it stood at 94th position among 107 countries. Such low rankings sound ridiculous when read with the impressive food stock of the country, which is sufficient to feed the entire nation. If food shortage is not that big an issue for India, then what explains the plight of hungry millions? It is the soaring inequality in all spheres of life, which appears to run parallel to India's march ahead on the development path — also nullifying the positive effects of the same. The GHI index had come under the flak of the government last year when the then Minister of State for Agriculture raised doubts around the methodology and data used by the organizations that released the rankings. It must however be noted that data collected by the combine is extracted from the datasets of international organizations including the United Nations, WHO, FAO etc. These organizations, in turn, compile their data from credible national data offered by national governments. So, while minor inconsistencies cannot be ruled out, the Global Health Index presents a grim reality we are not so unfamiliar with. The data and insights inherent in GHI must be taken seriously to improve our standing on a parameter as basic as providing adequate food for the people who make India. An assessment of GHI ranking parameters may help in ascertaining the real issues that confront our country. The rankings are based on a 100-point scale score that has equal weightage on undernourishment prevailing within the country, child mortality rate, and child wasting and stunting. The lower the score on the 100-point scale, the better is the performance. India's performance along the parameters of nourishment and child mortality over the years has improved significantly. The key concerning areas, however, remain child stunting and wasting. Around 35 per cent of Indian children are stunted, and 17 per cent are wasted. Coming back to the score in GHI rankings, countries with a score of up to 9.9 are placed in the low severity category. Those scoring between 10 and 19.9 are considered moderate. A score in the range of 20 to 34.9 is placed under the serious category, and above that, the situation is termed alarming. India is currently placed in the serious category with a score of 27.5. India's score has not improved much from the 2012 levels when it was 28.8. Though it came out of 'alarming' level in the year 2000 when its score stood above 38. Except for the 103rd ranked Afghanistan, India falls far behind all its South Asian neighbours including China (scoring below 5), 92nd ranked Pakistan (24.7), 76th ranked Bangladesh and Nepal (19.1). India also lags behind the nations of BRICS grouping like South Africa and Brazil by a significant margin. Inferences could easily be drawn from the Global Health Index that the country needs to seriously ramp up its activities in the direction of solving stunting and wasting problems, along with undernourishment and child mortality. The fact has to be acknowledged that India has historically neglected these concerning areas. But the time of neglect has long passed and it is high time to act. The solution for India can come through sustaining high food production levels while ensuring equitable distribution of food grains across all sections of the population at the same time. This would come through further cleansing the public distribution system and minimizing the fallacies of nourishment programs like midday meals and ICDS. Further, the situation will only improve if the remuneration in both cash and kind for small and marginal farmers is ensured. Ironically, a large number of India's food producers fail to afford square meals. Other key reasons for stunting and wasting in India comprise poor maternal health status. Data suggests that stunting and wasting among children in India kick in at a very early stage of a child's life, implying that they inherit it from the weaknesses of their mother. This, in turn, is related to social factors like child marriage and premature bearing of a child. Food insecurity and food inaccessibility in India are multi-pronged problems, having ripple effects on almost all walks of life. The quality of life of Indians appears to be at stake. Dream of prosperous and developed India will only remain a façade, and all the claims should be read as mere lies, until we work seriously on this front.