India has still a long way to go to meet the Millennium Development Goals such as elimination of poverty by 2015, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Sunday, 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% 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, 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.
Calling for a better voice for the developing countries in IMF and World Bank, he said the "democratic deficit" in the governance of the Bretton Woods Institutions "needs to be addressed to enhance legitimacy, transparency, accountability and ownership of the decision-making process."
"We find that progress has been limited to and distracted by peripheral issues which are not central to enhancement of 'voice' in decision-making. We strongly urge gaining of 'momentum' towards tackling the central structural issue of voting power.
"The set of determinants presently used in computing the economic strength of the countries are not true reflection of economic realities and have tilted the Fund's and Bank's governance structure towards the developed countries," he said.
About economic policy, he said the process of second generation reforms would go a long way to raising the income levels of the people and "hopefully in wiping out extreme poverty in India by 2015."
The MDGs, said Chidambaram, "would be more within our grasp if we strive towards success in trade policy discussions and the Doha development agenda."
"Improved market access for developing countries will remain central. . . Agriculture is at the heart of the Doha negotiations and we must remain mindful of the food and livelihood security of large numbers of subsistence farmers in poor countries.
"We also need to give a greater impetus to liberalisation of service exports in order to achieve balanced outcomes in the interest of all nations. The Bank should intensify its global advocacy role in promoting the interests of developing countries," he said.
