India’s economy has grown substantially, especially in the past two and a half decades since the start of the 2000s, but these statistics hide the many devastating issues that plague India currently. Every day, millions of kids experience homelessness and starvation. These two calamities are interrelated and they make it one of the most critical public health problems in India. The country is striving hard to meet the very fundamental human needs such as food and shelter while on the path of progress in technology, infrastructure, and development.

Defining the exact number of homeless people in India is a tough task. The 2011 Census counted nearly 1.77 million persons as homeless, which is defined as people living without a “census house.” Nevertheless, a lot of researchers consider that this number is considerably lower than the actual number. With it being extremely difficult to even map the current population, with a delayed census since 2021. Railway Children India, an organization that aids at-risk young people, considers that more than 11 million children are living on the streets. Quite a number of these children have escaped from violent homes, lost their families, or have come down from the countryside looking for work. Living on the streets is an endless cycle of danger that no child should have to live through. For these kids, missing a meal is not an unusual occurrence but a regular part of being alive.

The situation of food insecurity throughout India presents a very dire scenario. The Global Hunger Index ranks India very low, stating that almost 20% of the children under 5 years of age are suffering from wasting, which simply means they weigh less than they should for their height. One of the indicators of very long-term malnutrition is stunting, and children who are stunted are said to be one-third of the total population of little ones. This situation is even worse for some families, as they report relief to have had a food supply more than 20% less than their needs over the last decade. Approximately, each of the studies that cover slum areas with lots of homeless families indicates a very high rate of child hunger. With such statistics, it can be concluded that food insecurity is a persistent problem in India, which, despite being one of the largest food producers globally, still has millions of children going without food or a proper meal for even a whole day. In fact, according to India Today, there are 6.7 million children who go whole days without food.

The effect of homelessness on hunger is very complex and includes, in many ways, the following factors: the family living in the street cannot properly get food if it is given out by the government, and they do not have proof of residence. Sometimes, homeless families consist of migrant workers and, therefore, are not allowed to participate in certain programs because their documents are from another state. Children living on the street are also more prone to diseases, such as diarrhea, and respiratory infections, which result in the body losing its capacity to absorb nutrients. Malnutrition then translates into health problems, no learning capabilities, and fewer chances in life, and this puts the affected person on a path that is characterized by a cycle of poverty and homelessness.

Various national programs aim to alleviate this problem; however, there are still many homeless kids that the support systems cannot reach. People lacking fixed addresses are often left out of the Public Distribution System, mid-day meal programs, and even urban shelters. Thousands of children residing in very bad or temporary places do not get an education and thus do not get school feeding or any nutritional education for themselves. A survey done in Maharashtra revealed that between thirty and fifty thousand kids were not included in the state nutrition survey because they migrated or lived in informal settlements. These gaps will remain because public systems still consider children with a place to stay, while they are actually the ones with no permanent residence, or the homeless kids.

To solve the problem of hunger and homelessness together, India needs integrated health and housing solutions. Mobile food feeding programs can provide the food right at the spot where the children living on the streets are. Family shelters should have cooking facilities, food storage, and safe sleeping areas so that a stable environment that supports nutrition is created. The documentation requirement for food programs should be simplified in such a way that even the children without identification are not excluded. Moreover, basic healthcare services such as vaccinations, deworming, and medical checkups should be part of the feeding programs to make the approach to child health more comprehensive.

Urban planning and affordable housing improvements will be the primary factors that determine the long-term progress. Low-cost housing and no eviction policies in the cities to accommodate the informal settlements are urgently needed. Healthcare, housing, and child development agencies need to coordinate better to make sure that food access, housing stability, and healthcare work together instead of separately. Reliable data collection is also crucial because accurate information enables the policy-makers to create programs that reach the most needy children.

The interrelationship between homelessness and child hunger in India gives an important lesson. One cannot feed children if they have no place to live, and housing alone is not enough for such children if they are not provided food. The two problems come from the same sources of poverty and deprivation. Addressing one issue while neglecting the other would only relieve the situation temporarily. For India to achieve significant to any progress, food and shelter should be viewed as human rights that cannot be separated. The success of a society should not only be judged by its economic growth but also by the health of its children, particularly the ones who are the most vulnerable, as without a generation to succeed the current one, a population is ill-fated.