MEA drops aid agency plan as DoPT objects

The Ministry of External Affairs has decided to drop a proposal for a specialised agency to monitor international cooperation...

The Ministry of External Affairs has decided to drop a proposal for a specialised agency to monitor international cooperation and overseas projects,following objections by the Department of Personnel and Training.

The MEA wanted an agency on the lines of USAID and the UKs DFID,to be named Indian Agency for Partnership in Development. However,the DoPT questioned the rationale behind such an agency,and its objections were reportedly endorsed by the Prime Ministers Office.

According to sources,the DoPT argued that the proposed agency would add a bureaucratic layer and create a white elephant of sorts in the system.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has now decided to strengthen project management divisions of the MEA instead to meet objectives regarding overseas projects,sources said.

The idea behind the agency was to have a set-up that could help avoid delays that hamper implementation of Indian funding and assistance programmes in foreign countries. A Director General rank officer was to head it,with representatives from Finance and Commerce ministries on its board.

Such an agency was first proposed in 2007-08 when then finance minister P Chidambaram presented the Budget,and for the last three years,MEA had been pushing the matter for approval.

Sources said that draft Cabinet notes were submitted to the Cabinet Secretariat twice,but sent back for inter-ministerial consultations. However,the proposal didnt find favour with other ministries and was opposed at the conceptual level.

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Most of Indias assistance programmes run in neighbouring countries,including Afghanistan,African countries and some Latin American countries. In fact,Indias maximum spending is in Bhutan,where it has committed assistance worth Rs 3,400 crore between 2008 and 2013,which includes Rs 2,000 crore for projects in key socio-economic sectors.

It is followed by Afghanistan,where Indias commitment has exceeded US 1.3 billion on development assistance. India recently announced US 1 billion line of credit for Bangladesh the highest one-time assistance to any country. To Sri Lanka,India has promised Rs 500 crore as grant for relief and rehabilitation,to help it recover from the civil war with the LTTE.