Bill Gates Million: Grant Dependency Will Drag Us Down

November 6, 2003

COUNTERVIEW. (Times of India editorial)

Grant Dependency Will Drag Us Down

[MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2003 12:01:44 AM ]

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has doubled its aid from $100

million to $200 million to combat HIV/AIDS in India, making us the

largest recipient of aid from the cyber-czar's outfit for the fight

against the killer virus.

There is no small irony in this. Indian officialdom will bristle at

the suggestion that HIV is becoming a serious health threat in India

and yet have no qualms about passing the hat around for aid. Should

we, as an aspiring regional superpower, hanker for aid knowing that

this amounts to admitting to our own failings? Foreign aid always

comes with strings attached; many donor agencies push their own

agendas while doling out aid. For example, many American donors in

the field of reproductive health insist on steering clear of abortion

services. This not just militates against integrated format of our

basic health services, but over time it will also undermine the

progressive character of our social sector.

A major reason for the Gates Foundation's this largesse is to create

goodwill in what Microsoft perceives as a huge emerging market for

its products. But, the merits and demerits of foreign aid apart, the

crux of the matter is that we do not really need to depend on foreign

aid for the social sector any more. Each year, large portions of the

budget allocated for issues like reproductive health, maternal and

child mortality, even elementary education are unutilised. Our

members of Parliament get a whopping Rs 2 crore per year as

development aid for their constituencies, which again often goes

unspent.

Our aim should be to be self-reliant so that we can develop our own

sustainable development models than have donor agencies impose models

and conditions on us. Let us not forget the experience of Africa

where aid dependency has only had the most severe negative fallouts.

We should welcome Mr Gates to invest in business here, but let's

forget sweeteners like development aid. The two need not go together.

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