Since the last two terms, the UPA government has come out with several development schemes -- NREGA, NRHM, midday meal, universal education scheme, JNNURM -- to uplift the underprivileged.
Since the last two terms, the UPA government has come out with several development schemes -- NREGA, NRHM, midday meal, universal education scheme, JNNURM -- to uplift the underprivileged. But their experience defies some of their proclaimed aims.
They are confined to select pockets of the society. For instance, NREGA, successful in a few southern states, saw rampant corruption in north India.
Almost every time, it is the state bureaucracy that fails to implement national development schemesu00a0
So it is with many other welfare schemes. Great initiatives, but equally great failures!u00a0 The schemes would have delivered if the state governments had been more competent. Almost every time, it is the state bureaucracy that fails to implement national development schemes.
They are also careless about precautionary communication from the Centre. Recently, all major cities experienced a massive outbreak of malaria and dengue. Now, in spite of pre-emptive alarms from the centre, most states failed to act. A few even found their hospitals incapable, overburdened and understaffed.
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So it is with food security. The state delivery mechanisms are so porous thatu00a0 grains end up in the black market or rot in warehouses. In spite of adequate grain stocks, the states waste time deciding whether to sell them in the open market or through Public distribution System (PDS), knowing that it does not have a great record.
The crores allocated for universal education, health and sanitation, agriculture reforms and so on find their way back to government coffers. Recently, it was reported that the states used just 20% of the funds allocated for backward regions.
The Public Accounts Committee revealed this July that Manipur failed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) project. Even the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found out that Meghalaya's Education Department was inefficient inu00a0 implementing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Despite these failures, most states still bargain for budgets.
But a bigger worry is to know about these malfunctions and continue with them. Recently, the Economist magazine reported how the Obama and the Cameron governments are reaching out to the masses with their developmental schemes, channlelled through NGOs and social entrepreneurs with sparkling track records. Although at an initial stage, the project holds a huge promise.
Our government should think on similar lines. The globe is embracing PPP - Public Private Partnership - which is fast becoming a proven concept; and so, an immediate transformation at the centre has become an imperative. It is time New Delhi looks at social development as the key business.
Arindam Chaudhuri is an economist and management guru
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