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DFID India
British High Commission, B-28 Tara Crescent, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 100 016, India
Tel:+91 11 2652 9123| Fax:+91 11 2652 9296
Email: query@DFID.gov.uk
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India
DFID has provided about £1045 million to India in bilateral aid over the past
five years. Between 2008 and 2011 the UK will provide £825 million in aid to
India.
Background
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, programme for universalisation of elementary education, supported by DFID
Home to a world beating information technology industry and a multitude of
cultures, castes and languages, India is the world’s largest democracy. India
has accomplished a great deal since its independence, making slow but good
progress in reducing the number of people living below the poverty line. More
than 60% of the population can now read or write, compared to 20% sixty years
ago.
Despite the country’s success and high economic growth rate, mass poverty
still persists. Many poor people have been bypassed by India’s strong economic
growth. The growth has been inequitable and exclusion based on gender and caste
is rife.
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Country Facts
- Up to 400 million people in India live on less than a dollar a day.
- A further 500 million live on less than two dollars a day. In total,
900 million people (80% of the population) are living in conditions of
poverty.
- Nearly half of all Indian children are undernourished, a far higher
level than in the most of Sub-Saharan Africa.
- One fifth of child deaths occur in India.
- Each year one million women and children die due to lack of health
care.
- At least 80 million people go to bed hungry.
Reducing poverty is an essential step for India to provide a secured and
prosperous future to its over 1 billion people. India has an all-important role
to play in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and the progress
made by India will determine whether the world as a whole will be able to meet
some of the most critical targets of the MDGs.
India’s progress on MDGs (160
kb)
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DFID in India
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sign partnership agreement to fight global poverty
India is DFID’s largest country programme and country office. DFID believes
that the eradication of poverty in India, which is home to one third of the
world’s poorest, is central to achieving success in global war against poverty.
Over the last five years, DFID has provided grant assistance of over £1 billion
to India. Last year our financial support to India was around £266m.
The purpose of our programme is to support the Government of India achieve
its poverty reduction targets as set out in its national plan (the Eleventh Five
Year Plan) and to help India meet the Millennium Development Goals.
DFID in India works at both the national level (in support of the Government
of India’s centrally-sponsored schemes) and at the state level in Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. DFID India has established
Trust Funds with key multilateral partners, World Bank, Asian Development Bank,
UNDP, UNICEF to support their development activities.
DFID supports programmes, which help poor people improve their own
livelihoods, and give them a bigger say in decisions affecting their lives. Our
priorities have been to strengthen the capacity of government to develop and
implement poverty reduction policies; strengthen the accountability of
government to those it represents and to improve access to better quality
services for poor people, particularly in health and education.
With a strong and committed team of about 100 staff, DFID India has focused
on helping find long-term solutions to poverty.
At the UK-India Summit in January 2008, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and
the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
signed up to a partnership to fight
global poverty. This partnership commits both governments to a series of joint
actions to improve progress on the Millennium Development Goals, both in India
and worldwide.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that
DFID will spend £825 million for
development in India over the next three years, £500 million of which will be
devoted to health and education.
To read further about DFID India’s programmes, see
DFID India’s latest factsheet(193
kb).
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Relevant Links
 India focus in
BBC News
FCO in India
British Council In India
Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan and Mahila
Samakhya (India’s programmes on education)
Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme
(PACS)
National Aids Control Programme (NACP)
Reproductive and Child Health Programme
National Polio Eradication Programme
Small and Medium Enterprises Development
Project
National Microfinance Support Project
Western Orissa and
Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project
Last updated: 28 April 2008
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