Chennai: DMK Parliamentarian and party's Deputy General Secretary Kanimozhi on Saturday denounced Union Minister Smriti Irani's remark on the Global Hunger Index and said the comments raised questions about the Centre's competency in addressing malnutrition and other issues.

Posting a video of the Union Minister for Women and Child Development commenting on the Global Hunger Index, on social media platform X, Ms Kanimozhi said that it was painful to see the Union Minister mock the Global Hunger Index without understanding its implications.

"This raises serious questions about the competency of the BJP government in addressing malnutrition, inadequate food distribution, and child mortality," the MP said.

In the video, the central minister can be heard remarking there are indices that do not project the India story and deliberately so.

"For instance, Global Hunger Index that makes headlines now, many a people have said its all hogwash. How do they build that index? Three thousand people in a country of 140 crore get a phone call and they are asked 'Are you hungry?'" the minister claimed.

"That index is saying Pakistan is doing better than India, can you imagine," Ms Irani asked while speaking at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) conference in Hyderabad on Friday.