Do MDGs Matter? India's Development Trajectory in the 21st Century

Current discourse on post?2015 development goals needs to be situated in the context of the influence of MDGs in shaping national policies and programmes. In this article, India's development trajectory and its impacts are critically analysed to demonstrate the near absence of influence of MDGs discourse on Indian development planning or outcomes. The analysis also focuses on the political economy of India's development trajectory and identifies absence of governance reforms as the key deficit in meaningful impacts on the lives of people in India. In sharp contrast to the High Level Panel's recommendations on post?2015, the author proposes an alternative set of goals focusing on reforming governance in India

Swajaldhara: ‘Reversed’ Realities in Rural Water Supply in India

For the last two decades and more, nations, international organisations and civil society, both local and global, have been rallying for the cause of ‘efficient’ and ‘equitable’ water supply and distribution. To this end, the New Delhi Statement, a precursor to the Dublin Statement, in many ways marks the first step in reforming the water sector. This article explores how ideas of community ownership and participation lauded in the New Delhi Statement and reiterated in the Dublin Statement later translate into practice when they meet the complex sociopolitical and institutional realities at the ground. It locates the genesis of Swajaldhara, the flagship rural water reform programme in India, the origin of which can be traced to the Delhi?Dublin configuration and shows how a success model became a story of poor implementation defined in the language of ‘gaps and slippages’ or ‘policy reversals’. It argues further that the objective of ‘Some for All’ still remains a target yet to be achieved in many parts of the country. The work underlines the disconnect between the global paradigms and local manifestations of such ideas and investigates the reasons for the same. Based on field research in two villages of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the article unpacks the processes that lead to policy?practice dichotomy

G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration 2023

The major focus of G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration was centred around One Earth, One Family, and One Future. There is need to pursue low-GHG/low-carbon emissions, climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable development pathways by championing an integrated and inclusive approach. India will urgently accelerate its actions to address climate challenges, promote Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and conserve biodiversity, forests and oceans diversities. Also, promoting effective and meaningful participation of women in the economy as decision-makers needs to be ensure

The Gazette of India notification on the Maritime Zones of India(Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels)Rules, 1982

The Gazette of India notification on the Maritime Zones of India(Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels)Rules, 198

Revitalising Agriculture in Eastern India: Investment and Policy Priorities

This article examines the priority accorded to agriculture and allied sectors in India's public expenditure over the last two decades, with specific attention to budgetary spending by the eastern region states. It observes that one of the important reasons for the slowdown of growth in Indian agriculture seems to have been the stagnation in public expenditure on the overall rural economy (i.e. Agriculture and Allied Activities, Irrigation and Flood Control, Village and Small Industries, Rural Development and Special Area Programmes) since the early 1990s. The falling priority given to the rural economy in the last three Five Year Plans of the country would have affected the eastern region states more adversely due to their weaker fiscal health and less developed agricultural sectors. The article also argues that there is a need to redesign the policy framework and provide adequate budgetary support for agricultural activities in dryland/rainfed areas in the eastern region states

Gazette of India : Extraordinary Part-II Sec.3(ii) No.3395 CMFRI in CITES LIST dated 8th August 2023

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 49F of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the Central Government hereby designates the following institutes as Scientific Authority for the purposes of Chapter VB of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, for fulfilling the functions under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, namely:- 1. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata; 2. Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi; 3. Forest Research Institute, Dehradun; 4. Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore; 5. Rain Forest Research Institute, Jorhat; 6. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun; 7. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata; 8. National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Chennai; 9. Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology, Kochi; 10. Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur; 11. Institute of Wood Science & Technology, Bangalore; 12. Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla; 13. Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur; 14. Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad; 15. Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly; 16. Fishery Survey of India, Mumbai; 17. National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi; 18. Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow; 19. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai; 20. Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow; 21. National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow; 22. Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur; and 23. Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi

Maternal death inquiry and response in India - the impact of contextual factors on defining an optimal model to help meet critical maternal health policy objectives

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternal death reviews have been utilized in several countries as a means of identifying social and health care quality issues affecting maternal survival. From 2005 to 2009, a standardized community-based maternal death inquiry and response initiative was implemented in eight Indian states with the aim of addressing critical maternal health policy objectives. However, state-specific contextual factors strongly influenced the effort's success. This paper examines the impact and implications of the contextual factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We identified community, public health systems and governance related contextual factors thought to affect the implementation, utilization and up-scaling of the death inquiry process. Then, according to selected indicators, we documented the contextual factors' presence and their impact on the process' success in helping meet critical maternal health policy objectives in four districts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Based on this assessment, we propose an optimal model for conducting community-based maternal death inquiries in India and similar settings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The death inquiry process led to increases in maternal death notification and investigation whether civil society or government took charge of these tasks, stimulated sharing of the findings in multiple settings and contributed to the development of numerous evidence-based local, district and statewide maternal health interventions. NGO inputs were essential where communities, public health systems and governance were weak and boosted effectiveness in stronger settings. Public health systems participation was enabled by responsive and accountable governance. Communities participated most successfully through India's established local governance Panchayat Raj Institutions. In one instance this led to the development of a multi-faceted intervention well-integrated at multiple levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The impact of several contextual factors on the death inquiry process could be discerned, and suggested an optimal implementation model. District and state government must mandate and support the process, while the district health office should provide overall coordination, manage the death inquiry data as part of its routine surveillance programme, and organize a highly participatory means, preferably within an existing structure, of sharing the findings with the community and developing evidence-based maternal health interventions. NGO assistance and the support of a development partner may be needed, particularly in locales with weaker communities, public health systems or governance.</p

Electoral goals and center-state transfers : a theoretical model and empirical evidence from India

We construct a model of redistributive politics where the central government is opportunistic and uses its discretion to make transfers to state governments on the basis of political considerations. These considerations are the alignment between the incumbent parties at the central and state levels and whether a state is a swing state or not. A testable prediction from the model is that a state that is both swing and aligned with the central government is especially likely to receive higher transfers. We test this prediction using Indian data for 14 states from 1974–75 to 1996–97. We find that a state which is both aligned and swing in the last state election is estimated to receive 16% higher transfers than a state which is unaligned and non-swing