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DFID In INDIA
The Department for International Development (DFID) is the British government department responsible for Britain's
contribution towards international efforts to eliminate poverty. We work in partnership with developing country
governments and other international development agencies. We also work with business, civil society and the research
community.
DFID India is one of a number of DFID offices world-wide. We have 170 staff based in New Delhi, and state offices in Bhopal,
Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata and Hyderabad.
Britain wants to see a global effort to eliminate world poverty in the 21st Century. We have joined with India and many other
countries in the United Nations to set eight Millennium Development Goals. DFID's efforts are currently focused on meeting
these goals.
- Reduce by half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015
- Achieve Universal Primary Education by 2015
- Make progress towards gender equality and empowering women by eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005
- Reduce infant and child mortality rates by two-thirds by 2015
- Reduce maternal mortality ratios by three-quarters by 2015
- Provide access for all who need reproductive health services by 2015
- Implement national strategies for sustainable development by 2005 so as to reverse the loss of environmental resources by 2015.
- Develop a global partnership for development, with targets for aid, trade and debt
relief
- Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking
water and basic sanitation
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There are powerful and obvious moral and ethical arguments for ending poverty. It is simply wrong that one in five in the
world live in abject poverty and are unable to meet their basic needs. Public opinion surveys in the UK have shown that the
UK public are concerned by poverty and feel that their government should be working to reduce it; and the British
government is committed to do this.
However, in addition to responding to the obvious moral argument, the British government believes that the elimination of
global poverty is a matter of enlightened self-interest. Poverty breeds insecurity and conflict, increases vulnerability to
natural disasters and disease, and accelerates over-exploitation of natural resources. It also undermines trade, business and
investment opportunities and can result in financial shocks which do not respect national boundaries. These are issues which
none of us should or can ignore, and our governments have a duty to confront them.
The poor are people who may have lost their land, or their job or the support of other family members through death or
illness. Poor people may have inherited their parents' poverty perhaps because they belong to a particular caste or tribe.
Poverty is not about income alone. Social, political and even seasonal factors affect well-being from time to time. Women and
girls are often particularly vulnerable groups in poor communities.
The poor are found in every village, block and district of rural India and in every town and city. They are most numerous in
areas where the land is less productive, where water is scarce, where communications are poor or where certain castes or
tribes predominate. The poor are increasingly found in towns and cities as people migrate from less productive rural areas,
where they have little, to urban areas, where they aspire to more. The vulnerability of women and children is often increased
in the urban environment, and there is a growing pool of second generation resident urban poor.
The poor have a right to a basic education, to a reasonable level of health, to clean water, to decent work when adult, to move
freely and without fear of physical violence and to make calls on their government as citizens of India.
Over 400 million people in India live below the internationally agreed poverty line (living on less than US $1 per day). This is
one in three of the world's poorest. Reducing poverty in India is an essential step towards ending poverty world-wide. The
Government of India is strongly committed to reducing poverty. That is why we are working with the Government and other
organisations towards this aim.
We have projects and programmes in many states in India. We have a core programme of strategically focused assistance at
the national level. We are also working in close partnership with four of India's states: Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Orissa and West Bengal.
Our primary partners are the Union and State governments. The overall framework for our work is agreed with the Union
government and a significant number of our activities support Union ministries. But the majority of our work covers areas
which are the responsibility of State governments.
Other partners include members of the private sector, NGOs, civil society and the research community in India.
We are keen to work in a co-ordinated way with other development agencies, including other government donors and
multinational organisations. These include the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNICEF, other United Nations
agencies and the European Commission. We believe that all donors should be working together coherently to support the
poverty-reduction efforts of developing country governments.
We work closely with colleagues in other UK government departments, including those based at the British High Commission
in New Delhi. We also work to protect (?) the interests of developing countries in other UK government departments - for
example with regard to trade and the environment.
Yes. More people have escaped poverty in India in the past 50 years than in the previous 500 years. There are many other
positive indicators of progress. On average, people in India live nearly twice as long today as they did 50 years ago. Infant
mortality has fallen by two-thirds. More than 60% of the population can now read and write, compared to 20% at
Independence.
However, much more remains to be done. Many people lack access to clean water, basic health care and education. A third of
babies are malnourished, and maternal mortality is the second highest in the world.
We believe that the key to faster progress is to give poor people - particularly women - a greater share in the decisions that
affect their lives. This means supporting new approaches by governments at the national, state and local levels. Rather than
seeing poor people as recipients of government programmes and handouts, governments need to help poor people plan and
implement their own solutions to poverty. Government needs to be accountable and responsive and to strengthen its capacity
to deliver services to poor people.
External organisations such as DFID will not eliminate poverty in India. This can only be achieved through the efforts of the
Government and people of India. DFID aims to back these efforts by providing resources and expertise which can help
overcome some of the stumbling blocks to rapid progress.
DFID can have most impact through genuine partnerships with central and state governments. DFID's approach is therefore to
enter into long-term partnerships with states which are themselves committed to eliminating poverty and are following the
kind of policies needed to achieve that goal. We seek to develop relationships with governments where they take responsibility
and are accountable for delivering services to the poor, with DFID providing technical and financial support as appropriate.
We need to strengthen and develop a joint understanding of the development challenges and priorities we face in achieving
the MDGs.
We have learnt over several decades that supporting good projects which operate outside government systems rarely has a
lasting impact. They may provide benefits to the communities they directly affect, but these benefits are rarely sustained
once outside finance goes. And the ideas developed through the projects often have little impact on mainstream government
programmes. The best way to provide lasting support for poverty elimination is to help governments formulate good policies
and strengthen the effectiveness of their service delivery systems.
However, DFID's role in promoting poverty elimination is not limited to delivering development assistance. In today's
globalised world, decisions made by western governments have an impact on poor people in developing countries. DFID, in the
UK and overseas, works to ensure that policies in different areas such as trade and investment, debt relief and global
environmental concerns consider and promote the needs of poor people. DFID seeks to ensure that international negotiations
and policies take account of their impact on the lives of poor people in developing countries.
Our work is focused on helping people to find long-term solutions to poverty. Our priorities are:
- Strengthening the capacity of government to develop and implement pro- poor policies; and strengthening the
accountability of government to those it represents.
- promoting increased investment in education, health and clean water.
- Supporting programmes which help poor people improve their own livelihoods, and which give poor people a bigger
say in decisions affecting their lives. We aim particularly to support work, which enhances the social and political status of
women.
- Promoting sustainable management of the earth's resources. Environmental issues are always taken into consideration
during the design and implementation of our programmes and projects
Some examples of how we pursue these priorities:
Effective government is a prerequisite for sustained development. Government must match
its role with its capabilities. Often governments have expanded their role so far that
they have become ineffective in providing basic services, and have made a
disproportionate claim on public resources. Many state governments in India are now
rethinking their priorities, in the light of worsening fiscal problems. The
starting point for change has often been the need to reduce subsidies in the power
sector. DFID is contributing more than Rs 1134 crores (£162 million) to help the
Governments of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh restructure their power industries and
seek greater efficiency.
In Orissa, DFID is supporting the State government to review the core functions
of each department and develop staffing plans which fit with these functions.
We are also supporting efforts to increase revenues and better allocate scarce
resources to those activities that contribute most to poverty reduction.
Across India, decentralisation of responsibilities to the elected local
government is increasingly seen as a key strategy for improving effectiveness of
basic services. This enables local people to be involved in the planning and
management of services, and increases the accountability of service providers to
their users. Supporting the Government's programme of decentralisation will be a
key component of DFID's programme in Madhya Pradesh.
In areas where government services are weak, poor people need to be empowered to
realise their entitlements and meet their needs. DFID has recently established a
Rs 189 crores (£27 million) programme to support civil society activities promoting
the empowerment of poor people in India's one hundred poorest districts.
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Poor people in India are burdened with low levels of literacy, whilst large numbers
of children are unable to attend school and significant gender disparities exist
in educational achievement. At the same time, high rates of communicable diseases
and high maternal and infant mortality rates undermine poor people's potential to
rid themselves of poverty. The key challenge faced by the Union and State
Governments over the next decade is (i) to address effectively the priority
human development needs of poor people and (ii) to develop effective, equitable
and efficient health and education systems.
- Around 300 million Indians - more than 30% of the population - cannot read and write and nearly 40 million children (6-14 years) are out of school. Literacy rates have risen from 18% to 64% in the last 50 years but there still remains a major challenge for government in providing effective basic education for all.
- There is a vicious cycle between poverty and ill-health. Poor people suffer greater levels of ill-health, and poor health undermines people's ability to escape from poverty. Average life expectancy is just 62. Infant and child mortality rates are high at 77 and 102 per 1,000 live births respectively. The major sources of ill health are infectious and parasitic diseases, respiratory illnesses and perinatal causes. HIV infection rates are increasing rapidly.
DFID is contributing over Rs 1,239 crores (£177 million) to various education projects
in India. We support the national District Primary Education Programme in
Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa. We are also supporting two innovative
primary education projects in Rajasthan. Our focus is to help our partner states
provide education for all. Currently our activities centre on the development of
primary education and literacy in order to improve the quality of education and
reduce social and gender inequity.
To improve the health status of poor people, DFID is contributing over Rs 140
crores (£20 million) each year to help India, strengthen its health systems at
national and state levels, so that they may guarantee access to basic services.
We also support work to (i) improve access to reproductive health services and
products, such as in West Bengal and Orissa; (ii) promote the control of communicable
diseases, such as tuberculosis in Andhra Pradesh; and (iii) combat the HIV epidemic
in several states. Since 1997 we have also contributed Rs 609 crores (£87 million)
towards the government's polio eradication programme.
Access to adequate water and sanitation is a key factor in the elimination of
poverty. Poor management of finite water resources impacts disproportionately
on the poorest.
The single largest cause of ill-health and death among children in India is diarrhoea.
While access to basic health care is essential, it is also vital to provide poor people
with easily available clean water and facilities for safe disposal of excreta. Lack
of adequate facilities in schools affects attendance, particularly of girls.
DFID is providing Rs 119 crores (£17 million) to support work in water and sanitation
through the joint UNICEF/Government of India Child's Environment Programme. We are
also working closely with partner governments and other bilateral and multilateral
organisations to promote new approaches to improved water management. DFID has
undertaken to double its support to improved water and sanitation globally.
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DFID's work in urban poverty illustrates how its programme has changed over the
years. From the early 1990s, DFID was involved in physical slum upgrading projects.
This had visible and tangible outputs, but raised questions about how far the poorest
and most vulnerable benefited. Since the mid- 1990s our projects have looked more at
improving services to the poor through participatory planning and attempts to link
slums into the city systems. By the end of the 1990s it was realised that institutional
factors, such as improved city management and more responsible local government, are
pre-requisites to improved services for the poor. We are now supporting projects worth
more than Rs 840 crores (£120 million) in Kolkata, Cochin, Cuttack and 32 towns in
Andhra Pradesh.
Our rural work has similarly moved beyond supporting work to improve agricultural
systems, towards addressing the social and institutional factors which trap people in
poverty. Our aim is to promote sustainable livelihoods for poor rural people, and
the rehabilitation of environmentally degraded land with the active participation of
local people, particularly those normally excluded. We are contributing Rs 896 crores
(£128 million) to six separate programmes in drought-prone non-irrigated areas of the
country - in Western Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and in tribal areas of Western
and Eastern India. We are working on a further proposal for supporting rural livelihoods
in Madhya Pradesh. These programmes are helping poor people develop improved systems of
farming, making most efficient use of scarce water resources. They are also helping
those who do not have access to land, or cannot make a decent living from their land,
to establish other forms of livelihood.
India's forests are an environmental resource of global importance, as well as a key
element of the livelihoods of many poor people. In recent years we have supported the
Governments of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh to work with local people to improve
forest management. DFID sees forestry as an integral component of broader approaches
to rural livelihoods. We are expanding our co-operation with the Ministry of
Environment and Forests particularly, to improve training of forestry officials.
Access to financial services is vital for people struggling to break loose from
poverty. We are contributing Rs 182 crores (£26 million) to two major micro- finance
projects which aim to increase the access of the poor, especially women, to services
such as savings, loans, and insurance, which can help them increase assets and reduce
vulnerability.
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Our programme in the year 2001/2002 included grants worth more than Rs 1260 crore (£180 million) This is planned to rise
substantially over the next few years. The India Programme is our largest bilateral Programme in the world. We also provide
funding to India through our contributions to the European Community and other international development agencies.
In addition to our on-going development assistance, DFID also provides emergency assistance for victims of disasters. For
example we provided Rs. 70 crore (£10 million) at the time of the Gujarat Earthquake (2001) and more than Rs. 168 crore
(£24 million) in the wake of the super cyclone in Orissa (1999).
For information on funding request, pls log on to http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Funding/frameset.htm
For more development related news log onto: http://www.indev.or
Contact details :
DFID India
British High Commission
B 28 Tara Crescent
Qutab Institutional Area
New Delhi 110 016
India
Telephone : (+91) (11) 2652 9123
Fax : (+91) (11) 2652 9296
DFID India has offices in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal.
Andhra Pradesh
Sarovar Centre
Secretariat Road
Hyderabad-500 004
Andhra Pradesh
Telephone :(+91) (40) 2324 2519 / 2321 0943
Fax: (+91) (40) 2323 0421
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Madhya Pradesh
E-7/642, Arera Colony
Near Central Bank
Bhopal - 462 016
Madhya Pradesh
Telephone : (+91) (755) 5294 451 / 5294 452 /
Fax : (+91) (755) 5294 453
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Orissa
17 Forest Park
Bhubaneshwar - 751 009
Telephone : (+91) (674) 2533 359 / 2530 512
Fax : (+91) (674) 2530 228
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West Bengal
British Deputy High Commission
16 Jubliee Court
11/1, Ho Chi Minh Sarani
Kolkata 700 071, West Bengal.
Telephone : (+91) (33) 2282 6320 / 2282 6321
Fax : (+91) (33) 2282 6322
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