Aakar Patel | Fixing issues, not PR alone, may improve India’s image
Deccan ChronicleIn July 2020, the Narendra Modi government announced that it would monitor India's performance across 29 global indices. On the Global Hunger Index, which measures hunger, stunting in children and undernourishment, India has fallen 46 places and is today behind Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. On Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Index, India has gone from “free” to “partly free” and Kashmir, which is ranked separately, has gone from “partly free” to “not free”. On the Yale Environmental Performance Index, which looks at protection of ecosystems, India fell 13 places and went behind Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. In August of 2020, it was reported that the “Modi govt plans media blitz for ‘image correction’ to boost India rank on global lists”.