India has a long way to go in development: Chidambaram

By agencies   |   Monday, 18 April 2005, 19:30 IST
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WASHINGTON:India has still a long way to go to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) such as elimination of poverty by 2015, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today, while seeking a greater voice for the developing world in the international financial institutions. "We are aware that for India to meet the 2015 targets, an extraordinary effort will be required, especially in the poorest or lagging states, districts and certain communities, notably where there is a concentration of scheduled tribes," he told the Development Committee of the World Bank and IMF. Although India has had an average growth of about 6.3 percent over the last decade, he said, the growth has been uneven, and regional disparities persist. Unless the effects of growth are spread to these lagging states, the targets for all India will be difficult to achieve. In achieving the human development outcomes captured in the MDGs (morbidity and mortality, nutrition, education), there has been notable success in some of the Indian states, he said, but added that education and literacy are the weak links in the performance of the Indian economy. Another area of concern is gender equality, including in primary and secondary school enrolment. Infant, child and maternity mortality during the 1990s has not acquired the required pace even as TB and HIV-AIDS are main threats. Progress has not been satisfactory in rural areas about sanitation. In housing, the country seems to be on track in urban areas but off the mark in rural areas. Given the trend in economic growth during the Tenth Plan Period (2002-2007), poverty ratio is expected to decline further, he said.