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India
>> Regional Overview >> India Overview
Previous Years' Activities
2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997
Last updated: 26
THE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE: The USAID program advances the transformation of the U.S.-India relationship by addressing four of the nine U.S. national interests identified in the U.S. Mission Performance Plan: (1) economic prosperity achieved through opening markets; (2) global issues of population growth, infectious diseases, and climate change; (3) development and democracy concerns of alleviating poverty, reducing malnutrition, and improving the status of women; and (4) humanitarian response by saving lives and reducing suffering associated with disasters. India has the potential to be a catalyst for economic growth and development in an unstable region, and is a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.
One-sixth of the world’s people and one-third of the world’s poor live in India. It has 30% of the world’s births, 20% of the world’s maternal deaths and 25% of the world’s child deaths. More than half of India’s children are malnourished. Two-thirds of city dwellers lack sewerage and one-third lack potable water. About four million people are infected with HIV and more than two million develop active tuberculosis each year. Only 54% of women are literate, compared with 76% of males. India faces daunting challenges. Economic reforms of the 1990s lifted more than 100 million people out of abject poverty, but economic growth is now faltering. More than 300 million people are still poor. Six critical issues must be addressed to continue India’s impressive gains in poverty alleviation—
- Population Stabilization and Child Survival: Good health is still an elusive goal for hundreds of millions. With more than a billion people, India accounts for more than one sixth of global population growth (17 million additional people a year). One of every 11 children dies before reaching the age of five. More than 125,000 women die every year from pregnancy and child birth-related causes.
- HIV/AIDS and Infectious Diseases: India has nearly four million HIV infected people. Other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and polio, are rife. Over 420,000 Indians die annually from tuberculosis. India is one of the world’s last reservoirs of polio.
- Infrastructure: India is rapidly urbanizing, with an increased need for better quality services that are both economically and environmentally sustainable. Power and clean water are particularly important. The growing demand for power, fueled largely by high-ash coal, makes India a major global polluter, with significant health consequences. The inability to fully reform the power sector has dramatically increased India’s fiscal deficit.
- Equity: Girls’ enrollment in school lags behind that of boys. Estimates indicate that 100 million children are "out of school," with over 44 million of these children employed in industries.
- Economic Reform: Economic reforms led to stronger growth, higher investment flows and a growth in trade. However, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is decelerating. An inefficient financial system, a growing fiscal deficit, inadequate infrastructure and inefficient power sector management are the principal constraints.
- Humanitarian Assistance: India is prone to natural disasters. In the past year it has suffered from a devastating earthquake, widespread drought, and severe flooding.
The September 2001 Presidential determination to waive the Glenn Amendment sanctions on India permits USAID support for new economic and social investments. These investments will accelerate India’s growth, provide new opportunities for U.S. business, and mitigate critical social constraints.
THE USAID PROGRAM: USAID will devote $70,878,000 in DA, $7,000,000 in ESF, and $86,431,000 in P.L. 480 funds in FY 2002. USAID is requesting $75,185,000 in DA, $25,000,000 in ESF, and $91,288,000 in P.L. 480 funds in FY 2003 for India‘s seven strategic objectives. These objectives focus on improving the quality of and access to reproductive health services; providing supplementary food and health services to the poor; fostering energy efficiency, improving environmental conditions in urban areas; reducing transmission of infectious diseases; expanding service delivery networks for women; improving capacity of financial markets and government to accelerate economic growth; and reducing suffering associated with natural disasters and establishing conditions for rehabilitation. FY 2002 funds will be used to implement the program as currently planned and previously described in the FY 2002 Congressional Budget Justification. USAID also intends to use FY 2002 funds to carry out certain new activities in response to changing circumstances. The specific activities to be funded by FY 2002 appropriations are described in more detail in the following Program Data Sheets. USAID is currently developing a new Country Strategic Plan for FY 2003–FY 2007. USAID will use the FY 2003 request to fund new strategic objectives to respond to India’s pressing needs by focusing on economic growth, health, energy/environment, humanitarian assistance, and education programs.
ONGOING PROGRAMS FOR WHICH NO FY 2002 OR FY 2003 FUNDING IS REQUESTED: None.
OTHER PROGRAM ELEMENTS: In addition to the bilateral program, the Asia and Near East Bureau’s (ANE) South Asia Regional Initiative/Energy (SARI/Energy) program encourages regional cooperation in energy development and the eventual trade in clean energy resources among South Asian countries. ANE’s Improved South Asia Regional Stability through Democracy and Human Rights objective funds programs to combat abusive child labor practices and improve women’s microfinance services. The United States-Asia Environmental Partnership promotes a clean environmental revolution in India. The Bureau for Global Health has an activity in India to reduce fertility through voluntary practices. The Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade has a Regional Urban Development Office in India, which frames the policy and provides strategic direction to USAID’s shelter and urban programs in the South and Central Asia region. USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance activities in India promote child survival, reduce the spread of HIV, treat victims of torture and violence, help electric cooperatives meet growing electrical services needs, increase food quality and quantity, and demonstrate U.S. educational and medical technologies and practices in India.
South Asian development challenges—poor governance, tenuous civil liberties and individual rights, adult illiteracy, and poor economic growth—threaten the region’s prospects for longterm development and stability. USAID plans a new initiative in South Asia to improve the region’s social and economic conditions, and thereby reduce the risk of regional and global instability. India will be a key beneficiary of the new initiative.
OTHER DONORS: The United States is the third largest bilateral donor to India, after Japan and the United Kingdom. Six multilateral and 13 bilateral donors provide economic assistance to India. USAID collaborates with other donors on reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, air pollution control, urban environmental infrastructure, and women’s empowerment.
Program Data Sheets
- 386-002 Reduced Fertility and Improved Reproductive Health in North India
- 386-003 Improved Child Survival and Nutrition in Selected Areas of India
- 386-004 Increased Environmental Protection in Energy, Industry, and Cities
- 386-007 Reduced Transmission and Mitigated Impact of Infectious Diseases, especially STD/HIV/AIDS, in India
- 386-009 Expanded Advocacy and Service Delivery Networks for Women and Girls
- 386-011 Increased Capacity of Financial Markets and Government to Transparently and Efficiently Mobilize Resources
- 386-012 Recovery, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation Needs Met for Targeted Vulnerable Groups
Country Background Information Resources
CIA Factbook
Library of CongressNational Geographic Country Maps
State Dept. Country Information
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
