India and the World Bank

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The Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Venu Rajamony, the State Project Director, Rajasthan, Mrs. Poonam and the Country Director India, World Bank The Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Shri Venu Rajamony, the State Project Director, Rajasthan, Mrs. Poonam and the Country Director India, World Bank.jpg
The Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Venu Rajamony, the State Project Director, Rajasthan, Mrs. Poonam and the Country Director India, World Bank

The cooperation between the World Bank and India goes back to the foundation of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in 1944. As one of 44 countries, India prepared the agenda for the Bretton Woods Conference in June 1944.[ citation needed ] The Indian delegation was led by Sir Jeremy Raisman, who was a finance member of the Indian government and proposed the name "International Bank for Reconstruction and Development". [1] India received its first bank loan of US$34million from the IBRD in November 1948 for railway rehabilitation. [2] Since then, India has become the country with the largest country program [3] and its lending portfolio of the World Bank group inheres of 104 operations with a total volume of $27.1 billion. Parameswaran Iyer is the present Executive Director of World Bank nominated by India.

Contents

Economy of India

India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. According to the annual report of the IMF, India shows a GDP growth rate of 7.3% for 2018. India is the third largest country in purchasing power parity [4] and is expected to keep their annual growth rate. India was able to lift 133 million people out of poverty between 1994 and 2012. [5] Still, with a population of 1.3 billion people, India shows 5% of its population living in extreme poverty. [6] In June 2018, India experienced a current account deficit of US$15.8 billion [7] that represents the highest deficit within the last five years. India exported US$261billion in 2016, which makes it the 17th largest export country in the world. However, India's export structure is still not really diversified and is primarily focused on commodity and primary goods. Diamonds and jewelry and packaged medications accounted for around 20% of the export sector. [4]

Projects and Alliances

Country Partnership Framework for India

The World Bank lends around US$27.1 billion to India, which makes it the largest country of IBRD support. In September 2018, the World Bank Group began a new partnership with India. The partnership emphasizes an efficient and sustainable growth path and fosters competitiveness to create new job opportunities and investments in human capital. It is embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and focuses on strengthening of public-sector institutions in order to create strong governance. The country partnership framework between the World Bank and India is the largest country partnership framework in the World Bank Group and it supports India's transition to a middle-income country. [8]

Education

School boys learning computers in Goa, India School boys learning computers in Goa, India in the 1990s 01.png
School boys learning computers in Goa, India

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is a government program which was first issued in 2001. The program aimed to provide elementary education for around 200 million children across the country. The program is supported by the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Kingdom DFID, but is governmental led. During the first phase in 2001 - 2003, the World Bank contributed US$500 million, before the World Bank increased its contribution in a second phase by additional US$600 million. [9] In 2009, India passed its Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act that mandated elementary education as a fundamental right. The number of out-of-school children declined in India by 29.1 million from 2001 to 2013 and the number of children in elementary education increased steadily to 200 million. In 2012, 95 percent of the children had access to primary education. The Indian government and the World Bank agreed on a new credit agreement with a total volume of US$1006 million to support and finance SSA III. [10] The program focuses on improving quality and developing learning indicators by the National Council for Education Research and Training in order to evaluate children's progress in acquiring educational knowledge. [11] A recent survey conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) revealed that the literacy rate among individuals aged seven years and older in the country was recorded at 77.7 percent from July 2017 to June 2018. [12]

Infrastructure

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Project

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana aims to connect unconnected habitations with all-weather roads. Key to the program is an all-weather access to the respective roads.

The program was first set into place in December 2000 and has connected more than 80% of communities in the country. [13] The program was launched by then minister  Atal Behari Vajpayee and is under the control of the ministry of rural development. To guarantee proper execution of the program, three management mechanisms have been put in place. Therefore, the program emphasizes in house quality control, a structured independent quality monitoring and independent national quality monitors which are arranged by the National Rural Roads Development Agency to inspect the progress and provide guidance to the local authorities. The World Bank initially started to finance the program in 2004. The World Bank Group agreed on an additional US$500million loan [14] to finance the PMGSY in May 2018 and now has invested US$1.8billion into the program. The program has converted around 35,000 km of rural roads to all-weather roads to the benefit of 8 million people. [15]

Healthcare

Uttarakhand Health Systems Development Project

The Uttarakhand Health Systems Development Project (UKHSDP) is a project intended to be implemented over a period of six years, beginning with its approval by the World Bank in 2017 and ending with an expected completion date of September 2023. [16] The UKHSDP was issued through the International Development Association (IDA) in conjunction with the Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare of the government of Uttarakhand. [17] The goal of the project is to "support Uttarakhand in improving the access to and quality of health services, and providing health financial risk protection" [18] and the project has a total project cost of USD$125 million, USD$100 million of which was awarded by the World Bank. The remaining USD$25 million was funded by the local government. [16]

The need for the project stems from unequal access to quality health care, which is impeded by the size and distribution of settlements paired with the region's topography. The Uttarakhand region is a very hilly, mountainous region that sees a population spread out between major cities with a density of more than 500 people per square kilometer to rural areas with less than 50 people per square kilometer. [17] The UKHSDP notes that there is a deep employment asymmetry among its most rural areas with 48% vacancies in its listings for medical officers and 75% vacancies for medical specialists. [17]

The project has two component areas: innovations in the private sector and stewardship and system improvement. The first component focuses on a logistical fix to the current healthcare system and builds off a previously completed IDA project from 2008. The goal is to hire outside contractors in multiple areas to help with contract management and other system-wide logistical support positions. The system as a whole would improve the supply chain, multi-sectoral communication, data management, and information systems implementation. The second component address the direct action part of their original issue of getting health professionals to rural areas and has three subcategories: mobile specialty units, integration of Public-Private partnership (PPP) centers, and expanding the RSBY health coverage to adolescent primary care and care for the poor affected with Noncommunicable diseases (NCD's). [17]

As of October 1, 2019 the project's Project Development Objectives (PDO) and Overall Implementation Progress (IP) has been moderately satisfactory, an improvement from its prior rating of moderately unsatisfactory. [19]

Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Program

The Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Program is a relatively new project having been approved in March 2019. If all goes as planned the expected closing date for the reform project would be May 2024. [20] A large scale project in size, the cost estimated for the total project is USD 5.515 billion. The contribution by the World bank to the project is USD 287 million. [20] Currently as the project stands, it seeks to expand on a project the Tamil Nadu government just completed with the World bank in 2015. This previous project, known as the "Tamil Nadu Health Additional Financing project" sought to extend financing for a project started in 2004 called the Tamil Nadu Health Systems project. [21] This project established the goals to fix many of the system wide issues the region was facing. The original goal was to improve healthcare sector effectiveness and efficiency in providing aid to many of the poor and underrepresented groups. [22]

The current project looks to pick up where Tamil Nadu Health systems project left off by addressing a complex agenda for health care service delivery. While the previous project sought to establish networks and better system wide execution of healthcare and its surveillance ability, the current project takes a results based approach in the hopes of directly influencing three areas of growth; 1)Quality of care 2)non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injury and 3)equity of healthcare access. [23] These three categories highlight needs in the greater Tamil Nadu providence for healthcare reform to help bring the state to a more modern healthcare environment. Implementation of these categorical objectives are hoped to be realized through facility accreditation and procedures to ensure healthcare quality consistency, better quality of care towards trauma, mental health, and NCDs, and improved access for geographically disadvantaged and well as financially disadvantaged. [23]

The program notes deficiencies in current healthcare equity by showing large ranges in percentage by cities that have access to contraceptives as well as vaccinations. The program sites NCDs as a rapidly prevailing issue in the state due to the changing of the demographic within it. As the population continues to shift towards an aging population the prevalence of NCDs like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cancer become evermore concerning, especially in regards to access to healthcare treatment for these diseases across the state as a whole. [23]

Currently as it stands, only USD 720,000 has been disbursed on the project and much of the initial reporting is waiting on board to be generated by the government to oversee reporting numbers. [20]

Related Research Articles

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, it is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers loans to middle-income developing countries.It is the first of five member institutions that compose the World Bank Group. The initial mission of the IBRD in 1944, was to finance the reconstruction of European nations devastated by World War II. The IBRD and its concessional lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA), are collectively known as the World Bank as they share the same leadership and staff.

The International Development Association (IDA) is a development finance institution which offers concessional loans and grants to the world's poorest developing countries. The IDA is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It was established in 1960 to complement the existing International Bank for Reconstruction and Development by lending to developing countries which suffer from the lowest gross national income, from troubled creditworthiness, or from the lowest per capita income. Together, the International Development Association and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development are collectively generally known as the World Bank, as they follow the same executive leadership and operate with the same staff.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of India</span> Overview of and topical guide to India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthcare in India</span> Overview of the health care system in India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">China and the World Bank</span> Overview of the relationship between China and the World Bank

China originally joined the World Bank Group (WBG) on December 27, 1945. However, after the Chinese Civil War, the World Bank recognized the Republic of China as its member, until the relationship ended in 1980, when the membership was replaced by the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) did not become involved with the World Bank group until 1980, when it first joined the World Bank in April due to the market reforms known as reform and opening-up. Prior to the economic reform and its relation with the World Bank, according to CRS, "China maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant, centrally controlled, vastly inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global economy". Since its entry into the World Bank, China has transformed into a market-based economy and has experienced rapid economic and social development. Currently, although China has become the world's second largest economy with 1.4 billion population, it still has a close relationship with the World Bank in areas such as poverty, environmental protection and new challenges from the reform.

Sri Lanka has been involved with the World Bank since its initial entrance into the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) on August 29, 1950. Currently, Sri Lanka's quota in the IBERT is approximately 515.4 million dollars, thus allotting 5,846 votes or 0.25% of the total votes in the institution. Sri Lanka later became a member of the other institutions in the world bank such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on July 20, 1956, with a current quota of 7.491 million dollars, allotting 8,311 votes or 0.32% of the total votes; the International Development Association (IDA) on June 27, 1961, with a current share of 98,100 votes or 0.36% within the institution; the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on November 11, 1967; and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) on May 27, 1988, with a current quota of 4.78 million SDR. Sri Lanka is currently in the India-led constituency for these organizations, representing the country as part of the South Asian block.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vietnam and the World Bank</span> Vietnams relationship with the World Bank

Vietnam joined the World Bank Group (WBG) on 21 September 1956. Before the mid-1980s, Vietnam was one of the world's least developed countries. A series of economic and political reforms launched in 1986, known as Đổi Mới, caused Vietnam to experience rapid economic growth and development, becoming a lower middle-income country. The World Bank (WB) has maintained a development partnership with Vietnam since 1993. As of 25 March 2019, it has committed a total of US$24 billion in loans, credits, and grants to Vietnam through 165 operations and projects, 44 of which are active as of 2019 and comprise US$9 billion. With an estimated extreme poverty rate below 3% and a GDP growth rate of 7.1% in 2018, Vietnam's economy continues to show fundamental strength and is supported by robust domestic demand and export-oriented manufacturing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poland and the World Bank</span>

After separating from the World Bank and other International Financial Institutions for decades due to pressure from the Soviet Union, Poland rejoined the World Bank on June 27, 1986. The World Bank was instrumental in financing and providing technical assistance for Poland as it transitioned from a Command Economy into a Market-Oriented Economy. As a middle income country, Poland has worked primarily with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development since it is not eligible for loans from the International Development Association. Additionally, Poland has had a few projects with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and the International Finance Corporation. Currently, most of Poland's engagements with the World Bank Group concern environmental concerns and public finances.

Tajikistan did not join in the World Bank until 1993. Before the collapse of USSR in 1991, Tajikistan was experiencing planned economy which was dominated by Moscow. Right after the dissolution, different from other nations which experienced a relatively stable transition from planned economy to market economy, Tajikistan fell into a serious civil war. As a result, the first mission after Tajikistan became the official member of the World Bank, was to recover its economy from bullets and blood. In 1997. $10 million credit was grant for Post-Conflict Rehabilitation Project. The proposed credit was used to conduct necessary imports and to restore production. Under different time periods, the World Bank and Tajikistan worked together in response to various problems. Later on, the economic crisis of 2008 caused the inflation of food prices in Tajikistan. In response to the crisis, the World Bank issued $6.25 million for the Emergency Food Security and Seed Imports Project in order to help at least 28000 households to release the food price pressure. Coming into the 21st century, Tajikistan received financing from IDA and IBRD of the World Bank with respect to programs of healthcare, education, irrigation and agriculture. Over the past years, Tajikistan has received over 130 projects of which 17 are active and a total of over $1.4 billion from the World Bank. With the help of those projects, from 2000 to 2017, the poverty rate in Tajikistan had been decreased from 83% to 29.5%. Besides, current GDP growth rate in Tajikistan is around 7%. Nevertheless, with a stable GDP growth rate, Tajikistan is still one of the poorest countries in Central Asia.

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References

  1. ↑ Chandavarkar, Anand (2001). "Sir (Abraham) Jeremy Raisman, Finance Member, Government of India (1939-45): Portrait of an Unsung Statesman Extraordinaire". Economic and Political Weekly. 36 (28): 2641–2655. JSTOR   4410856.
  2. ↑ "World Bank Document" (PDF). documents.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  3. ↑ "World Bank Group to Focus on India Growth, Jobs, Human Capital". World Bank. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  4. 1 2 "Overview". World Bank. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  5. ↑ "Poverty and Urbanisation". UN India. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  6. ↑ "India is no longer home to the largest number of poor people in the world. Nigeria is". Washington Post.
  7. ↑ "India Balance of Payments|Current account|Analysis|2011-2018|Charts". indiamacroadvisors.com. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  8. ↑ "Country Partnership Framework".
  9. ↑ "India - Education for All: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan". web.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  10. ↑ "Government of India and World Bank Sign $1006.20 Million Agreement to Improve Learning Outcomes and Retention in Elementary Education".
  11. ↑ "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan- A Successful Scheme of Education in India" (PDF).
  12. ↑ "Highest literacy (most eduacated) rate in India state wise". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  13. ↑ "Over 80% habitations connected with roads under PMGSY". The Economic Times. 2017-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  14. ↑ "Project Signing: Government of India and World Bank Sign $500 Million Additional Financing Project for All-Weather Rural Roads Using Green Technologies". World Bank. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  15. ↑ "India, World Bank sign $500 million loan pact for rural roads". The Economic Times. 2018-05-31.
  16. 1 2 "Uttarakhand Health Systems Development Project". World Bank. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Pandian, D. Senthil (February 5, 2014). "Project information document (PID) Concept stage" (PDF). World Bank.
  18. ↑ "Brief About the Project". UKHSDP. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  19. ↑ World Bank (October 1, 2019). "Implementation Status & Results Report" (PDF). World Bank.
  20. 1 2 3 "Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Program". World Bank. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  21. ↑ Kudesia, Preeti (May 19, 2004). "PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)" (PDF). World bank.
  22. ↑ Kudesia, Preeti (September 28, 2019). "Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project" (PDF). World Bank.
  23. 1 2 3 Prayashi, Bandana (April 25, 2018). "Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Project (P166373) Program Information Document (PID)" (PDF). World bank.
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