Experts in India chalk out strategy to achieve MDGs

Neemrana (Alwar), Rajasthan: A three-day national writers’ conclave on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) concluded here last week with a call for taking new initiatives in the health and education sectors, monitoring existing programmes and scaling up investments as well as human resources in the execution of various development activities to meet the ambitious targets by 2015.

Dr. Syeda Hameed along with Rajasthan health minister Aimaduddin Ahmed Khan (L) and education minister Bhanwar Lal (R) at the Conclave/ Photo credit: K.S. Kothari/ OWSA

The conclave brought together members of the Planning Commission, academics, representatives of UN organisations and development activists to be a part of the brainstorming discussions on the status of MDGs in Rajasthan – with special focus on health and education. This was the first initiative of its kind in India by any state to assess the progress and chalk out suggestions in relations to the MDGs.

The event was organised by the IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Jaipur, and Rajasthan government’s Planning Department with support from the Planning Commission of India.

Dr Syeda Hameed, member, Planning Commission, released two reports prepared by IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Jaipur – MDGs in Rajasthan: The Way Forward and MDGs in Rajasthan: An Analytical Report – on the occasion.

The inaugural session was devoted to national concerns, state and district perspectives and gender as major cross-cutting issues. Dr Hameeda said that though most of the states were cash-strapped, they had to become active partners in the implementation of development schemes.

She added that the Planning Commission would shortly perform the mid-term appraisal of the 11th Five-year Plan.

Also in charge of Rajasthan in the Planning Commission, Dr Hameeda expressed her satisfaction about the good development practices in the state. “I think the state is ready to make progress towards achieving the MDGs,” she added.

Rajasthan education minister Bhanwar Lal sought special status for Rajasthan in view of its difficult topography and limited resources for establishing schools. The state government is already considering a proposal to run anganwadi centers on the premises of primary schools.

Community-driven development

State health minister Aimaduddin Ahmed Khan affirmed that the state government’s focus would always be the aam aadmi (common man). Special steps have been taken to benefit the vulnerable populations through quality health services, he said.

“Community-driven development is a key element of empowering communities and local governments,” he added.

In the keynote address, Ashish Bose, eminent demographer and chairman of the Society for Applied Research in Humanities (SARH), said that removal of corruption should be made the ninth target under Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

During the conference two working groups on the major themes of health and education devoted their time and energy to formulate some significant findings and recommendations to improve the status, performance and way ahead for these two critical sectors, informed Dr Ashok Bapna, director of IILM Academy.

The working group on health, headed by Dr M.K. Bhan, secretary, Government of India, underlined the need for bringing about changes in the norms for opening health institutions. The group felt that the existing number of institutions in the districts was inadequate for the desert region.

Samuel Mawungandize, chief of UNICEF Rajasthan said that the state was on target to achieve the MDG in relation to infant mortality and it only needed to intensify its efforts in this direction.

Participants at the Conclave/ Photo credit: K.S. Kothari/ OWSA

The group recommended linking the neo-natal strategy with the ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) through home visits. It felt that outsourcing could be used wherever practical and the process of establishment of newborn care units at health institutions should be expedited, as at the current rate, it may take 10 years for completion.

Presenting the group’s recommendations, UNICEF convergence officer, Pradeep Chaudhary said greater attention should be paid to antenatal care, birth preparedness, institutional deliveries, referral and transportation for reducing the maternal mortality rate (MMR).

Referring to the important issue of nutrition, the working group observed that there were as many as 200,000 severe and acute malnourished children in Rajasthan.

Terming the gender issue crucial for care seeking, Chaudhary said strategies could be adopted for conditional card transfer at higher rates for female red card holders and pregnant women.

The working group on education was headed by eminent social scientist, Prof Yogesh Atal and covered issues of teachers and quality of teaching, gender gap, infrastructure, reaching out to the marginalised communities, dropout and retention of students, curriculum and monitoring.

Programme convergence

Umesh Kumar, chairman of the Rajasthan Council for Elementary Education, submitting the recommendations at the end of the conclave, said that convergence with other departments should be improved to strengthen the system for works such as solving the water facility problem in schools with the involvement of NREGA. The group also recommended a grading system for students and called for allocation of additional resources.

The group also suggested strengthening of monitoring system with better data, while calling for considering other issues and social practices such as early marriages affecting education of the girl children.

Kulbhushan Kothari, former director, UNICEF, said the UN bodies should be more sensitive to the grassroots requirements in the developing countries while releasing its ambitious schemes such as MDGs. These programmes often remain unimplemented in the absence of proper follow-up actions.

The field reports from the three selected districts, which are ranked very low in terms of infant mortality ratio and human development index were also presented.

The ambitious convergence programme is being implemented in these districts with support from UN agencies in close cooperation with state government for helping out the authorities in meeting the targets set under the MDGs.

Addressing the valedictory session, Prof Atal pointed out that the recommendations would set the tone for strategies to be evolved in future. “Rather than being satisfied with the present data, we must carry out a comparative analysis of the areas where we lag behind and where we have succeeded,” he remarked.