By IANS
New Delhi : India will find it difficult to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) set for 2015 by the UN as people engaged in traditional jobs were becoming dependent on "welfare schemes", said an official here Monday.
Giving a midway assessment on the MDGs drawn up in 2000, Planning Commission Member Syeda Hameed told reporters that traditional livelihoods were facing slow death and the people engaged in them were being forced into despair.
"I am sharing with you my anguish at what I recently experienced. But that does not mean we have not made progress," she said, releasing the midpoint report on the UN's ambitious global programme.
"The skills are fading and with it the skilled. They are becoming more and more dependent on what in government terminology are called welfare schemes, making the achievement of MDGs more difficult," she said.
Hameed said what pained her was that even though India was emerging as a global economic leader, it had the highest number of maternal deaths during childbirth – or a fourth of the world total.
India also contributes to a fifth of the world's share of diseases and nutrition deficiency and has the second largest number of HIV and AIDS cases after Africa, she added.
"The fact is the benefits of our growth have not trickled down to the poorest of the poor and they are unable to access even the most essential of services like drinking water, sanitation, schools and basic health facilities."
With malnutrition among women and children becoming the "most insidious problem" faced by India, the government will examine some of the flagship programmes in the light of national and international experience in tackling it, she said.
Hameed said in tackling this issue, there was need for inputs from UN agencies. "We need to work together because we are serious about meeting MDG targets. More importantly, we want to ensure a healthy and happy future for men, women and children."
Another major challenge is sanitation as the report reveals that 62 percent of Indians do not have access to improved sanitation while 43 percent of South Asian urban population live in slum conditions.
"In order to meet the MDG target, an additional 1.6 billion people (across the globe) need access to improved sanitation. But if the current trend continues, the world is likely to miss the sanitation target by 600 million people."
Though South Asia is emerging as a global political and economic force, there was need to implement well-planned actions to improve the delivery of essential services to the people, she said.
"To achieve the MDGs, the governments, UN and donors in the region must make some important commitments."