Fight hunger, says Rahul Bose

New Delhi: Actor and social activist Rahul Bose today said that the number of people going without food is rising in India, making "hunger" one of the gravest issues in the country.

"The number of hungry people in other countries have decreased but in India the situation is opposite. In 1991 there were eight and a half crore hungry people in our country and today we have 25 crores hungry people," Bose told reporters.

The actor, who is the India ambassador of Oxfam, was in the capital to launch `Grow`, a campaign against hunger.

"Our world is capable of feeding all of humanity yet one in seven of us are hungry today, its because we have stopped respecting the rights of poor people," the `English August` star said.

Bose also expressed concern over the increasing malnutrition in the country.

"When the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is increasing at the rate of eight per cent why is it that malnutrition has decreased by only one per cent," he said.