Planning Commission's Poverty line numbers - Where is the accountability?

With his back to the wall now, Dr.Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the suave long-serving Dy.Chairman of Planning Commission has announced another review and revision of poverty line estimates. That being the case, what will happen to the expert committee under C.Rangarajan which has already been looking into the poverty estimation methodology since last year?  Given the experience thus far, it isn't surprising at all. Montek Singh has been supervising a slew of flip-flop committees at Planning Commission for determination of poverty line methodology for a long time now. The Plan Panel Dy. Chief himself has been there at the helms since 2004.

It is now a well known fact that Dr.Montek Singh and his committees at Planning Commission have continued to throw absolutely ridiculous and bizarre poverty line numbers at the nation over these years despite the means and resources at their disposal. Remember, the Planning Commission’s (earlier) Tendulkar committee report which had drawn poverty line in 2009 at Rs.22.4 per day for rural areas and Rs.28.6 per day for urban areas. Even a renowned poverty expert like late Prof. Suresh Tendulkar couldn’t do justice to the job under the then dispensation at Planning Commission led by Dr.Montek Singh. After much hungama and widespread criticism across the nation then, the Planning Commission, had no option but to revise those numbers on a fresh basis -  taking monthly average household consumption of a family of five. Even then, those revised numbers left a lot to be desired and were not found up to mark, to say the least.

No wonder various critical poverty reduction schemes and financial outlays - based upon such absurd poverty line numbers, have been yielding poor and unsatisfactory results.  All this while, there has been complete ambiguity and incoherence over the subject at Planning Commission. Needless to add here the fact that there has been near total absence of accountability at Planning Commission as far as poverty line estimation is concerned in last eight - nine years. And this is no joke or a matter of irrelevance. No matter how much Montek Singh and his folks at Plan panel downplay or distance themselves from such a fiasco, they can't shrug off their inability and failure to deliver on their mandated task.

Needless to reiterate here that almost all poverty alleviation schemes and attached budgetary allocations including Five year Plan outlays for poverty alleviation are linked to the poverty line drawn by the Planning Commission. It also serves as the basis for metrics on poverty reduction over a period of time. Incorrect drawing of this poverty line means everything goes for a toss as far as government’s poverty alleviation interventions are concerned  - be it the alleviation schemes and programs or the targeted beneficiaries, be it the budgetary outlays or the schemes’ overall implementation, be it the measurement of delivery performance or be it the status improvement of the poor and hungry.

It appears Dr.Montek Singh has managed to lose his sanity by being a bit too long on government subsidies of the highest order. Thanks to his proximity to the PM and his cabinet rank, he enjoys a plush office, free office and personal staff, highly subsidised bungalow in Lutyens Delhi, free vehicle, free driver, free personal staff, free electricity, free phone calls, free house maintenance, free air / train travel, umpteen free foreign junkets, almost free health care for life, etc. - all at the cost / burden of hapless taxpayer of this country. And why did the hardworking taxpayer bear all his cost thus far? So that Montek Singh, in an honest, diligent and dutiful manner, could work hard towards delivering what was right, accurate and just - enabling effective delivery of welfare programs to the most poor and hungry amongst the nation’s billion plus people.

Lo and behold!! Dr.Montek goes out there and belts out, yet again, absolutely obnoxious and appalling poverty line numbers of Rs.27 (rural areas) and Rs.33 (urban areas) a day as the nation’s poverty line thereby making a mockery of the most deprived, hungry and suffering amongst us by producing such heartless, shameless and mindboggling  numbers.  In this day and age, he thought, he could get away with such outrageous mocking at the abject deprivation of a majority of our fellow citizens who are waiting and seeking help -just to hold their body and souls together. He thought he could fool the nation one more time. But he couldn’t. Thankfully and rightfully so!!!

Clearly, this was a case where one didn’t have any clue about the hard and harsh realities on the ground – of the widespread poverty as it exists in India today nor had any kind of identification with or sensitivity towards the real issues of the poor and hungry amongst us. Just a couple of roses in the flower vase on his office table that his peon might be putting every morning for him would be costlier than Rs.27. Even his driver would be making more than Rs.5000 as monthly overtime - leave aside the driver’s monthly salary, benefits, health care, pension, PF, gratuity, etc. as a cost to the taxpayer.

As a side note, it is worthwhile to question what Dr.Montek Singh does every year at World Economic Forum, Davos and what quantifiable and qualitative results has he delivered out of such junkets and similar trips across the world - all at the cost of the hapless taxpayer. Davos is a place where people from all across the world - governments, business, civil society and other sectors engage and network to enhance confidence in their country’s governance, economic performance, infrastructure, trade and business performance, etc. and where they also discuss ways and means to address universal challenges of hunger, poverty, disease and education. Does Dr.Montek Singh talk about his ridiculous poverty line numbers in that august gathering? Not sure if he has ever. And hope he hasn’t as he would have shamed this nation every time he would have blurted out those inaccurate, appalling and ridiculous numbers before a world audience.

Let’s come straight to the point. And this is without taking anything away from otherwise impressive credentials of Dr. Montek Singh. Isn’t it surprising that the Plan Panel Dy.Chief has not yet been sacked by the Prime Minister? Dr.Montek Singh has been shamelessly holding on to his Chair despite such widespread backlash and opposition to his latest poverty line numbers - across the political spectrum. And this is not the first time. If that was not enough, he cut himself a sorry figure yet again when he came up with another set of absolutely flawed numbers on poverty reduction - a few days back. Such pathetic numbers have worsened things further. At a time, when the government was still taking a lot of heat from all corners, Dr.Montek Singh and his team, rubbing salt to the wounds, hurriedly threw another set of flawed and inaccurate numbers - this time on government's poverty reduction performance of last few years. Interestingly, such poverty reduction performance was based upon the already rejected poverty line numbers of erstwhile Tendulkar committee which the Planning Commission itself had rejected long time ago. Simply unbelievable stuff!! It clearly crossed all the heights of callousness, apathy and shamelessness.

Who bothers about the lost time in the life of nation and of its more disadvantaged people; who cares about the lost opportunities and its people falling behind; who takes into account the losses suffered on critical human development front; who cares about the loss of human capital for the nation’s future and who bothers about the overall loss to the nation and its people. At least, not the likes of Dr.Montek Singh and his folks at Plan panel - glorified cushioned occupants of plush air conditioned offices in Lutyen’s Delhi. It is critical that Dr.Montek and his ilk get it this time that the nation has moved on. This nation - especially its youth (a majority) will hold them accountable for every action of theirs and will take them to task. No more free lunches and free rides please for such public servants!! They can’t get away with such crap anymore.

All reports including the government’s show that the most poor and hungry amongst us have remained there where they were in relative economic terms. Quality of life for more than 70% remains where it used to be. The trickle-down effect of growth model is not working. Rapid growth of two decades may have brought some of us out of the clutches of poverty but the more important divide between the haves and have-nots has continued to widen over these years - reaching distressing proportions now.

Certainly, it's time for Dr.Montek Singh to step aside and let the Planning Commission have some fresh breeze of air. The longer he stays at Planning Commission, the more embarrassment he causes to the nation and to his supposedly key benefactor - the Prime Minister. Sense of responsibility and sacrifice, conscientious service / duty to the motherland, character, integrity and accountability are still the qualities that this nation values the most.

Mid-Day Meal Program - a comprehensive revamp could save the day

Mid Day Meal Scheme - a unique and popular Program for the nation's poor and hungry kids has continued to be in news for all the wrong reasons for a long long time.  This Program has been ridden with poor infrastructure, lack of trained personnel, poor quality of food, lack of hygiene, very little monitoring, absence of accountability, poor community participation, zero social audits, large scale corruption, etc. In some areas the Program is yet to take off even after twelve years for lack of proper infrastructure such as ingredients storage area, cooking aids, cooking area and personnel. No wonder news trickling in of kids falling sick after MDMS food consumption have continued to trickle in from several parts of the country. And now the worse has started happening : kids have started dying from such food. The last week's horror in Chapra appears to be the last nail in the coffin as far as MDMS's functional/operational credibility is concerned.

The government's apathy towards the Scheme's implementation has run in for too long now and the rot that has set in during this period is now very deep. For course correction and reinforcements, Quality Assurance (QA) appears to be one of the critical areas (proper infrastructure, meaningful community participation, sytemic accountability, etc. may be the others) that needs a comprehensive review and revamp under Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) at both State and Central levels. QA in this Program needs to be relooked at from an absolutely fresh perspective. The devil is in the detail. The more detailed and drilled down are the processes the better considering that health and human lives are really on stake here.

To the extent possible, MDMS's QA processes need to be standardised, clearly defined, documented, complied with, reported in time and be continuously improved. QA revamp, here, needs to include all processes/sub-processes and timelines critical to successful execution of the Program along with clearly defined and assigned roles and responsibilities of personnel/agencies involved. The QA process should also include standardised reporting (MIS) of the job done on a daily/weekly basis for collating data and for ensuring compliance. The documented standardised processes must clearly address what, where and how the sub-processes e.g. ingredients sourcing / storing / cooking / feeding / quality sampling of raw ingredients-finished food / cleaning / housekeeping in cooking area / hygiene maintenance by personnel and kids / serving of food / maintenance of utensils, equipments, cooking aids, feeding wares / etc., are to be carried out. 
 

Another essential component of the QA document would be the clearly defined daily food menu, quality specifications for raw ingredients, standard recipes with defined usage quantities of ingredients per unit weight of food, standardised specifications for the storage, kitchen  and feeding areas - infrastructure, cooking equipments/utensils, feeding wares, etc.  periodicity of quality checks (which needs to be daily in any case), standards of hygiene, required skill level, training and retraining of personnel involved, etc.

A key section of the QA will include clearly defined and assigned roles and responsibilities of personnel and agencies involved in carrying out the sourcing, sampling tasks, storing, quality checks, cooking and feeding,  cleaning and hygiene maintenance, periodic reporting and analysis, monitoring, compliance, grievance redressal, social audit and course correction. Roles and responsibilities section will include who will do what and in what time will the tasks have to be done. For standardised performance measurement of personnel involved, uniform parameters and targets – both quantitative and qualitative would have to be defined as an important aspect of this QA process. The annual standardised assigned qualitative and quantitative targets for the personnel, agencies, officials and community members in committees involved in implementation and monitoring of this scheme could form the other important area of this MDMS QA process.
 
A standardised but simplified complaint filing and feedback mechanism (along with something akin to a whistle blower policy that is easy to understand and operate by the beneficiaries - parents, students and community members will also have to be inbuilt into the QA process wherein the parents, students and community  members can file their complaints without fear, delay and any complexity. A single window, time-bound, well disseminated, grievance/complaint redressal mechanism with earmarked officials and assigned responsibilities to address such issues within a given time frame will also have to be a part of this mechanism.

Well defined monitoring, controlling and corrective action processes along with clearly defined penalties and other consequences against non-performance, non-compliance and dereliction of duty by the government officials involved (across the chain of command) in this process would form the other sections of the QA of this Scheme. Non-performance of assigned responsibilities by members from public and civil society in monitoring committee would also have to be defined and included in the remaining part of QA process. Lastly, code of ethics will have to be relooked and redefined in this whole process to bring in a certain sense of propriety, confidence and integrity.

It will serve well if clearly defined investigation and enquiry process - limited to the scope of this MDMS Program with appropriate timelines attached to it is also included as a part of the overall QA process. This section must include who and how the enquiry will be conducted and in what time and also affix accountability of the personnel involved in this process. Given the specific nature of this Program where human lives and health are at stake, punishments can not be of routine nature. The penal clauses must be stringent and decisive (upto dismissal from service) against defaulting and non-compliant officials. This would not only ensure accountability of personnel involved in administering of this scheme but also act as a deterrent against omissions and commissions. 

All in all, standardising specifications and processes, plugging the gaping holes, removing ambiguities, assigning defined roles and responsibilities, setting timelines and achievable milestones, ensuring compliance, using information technology in managing the overall process and holding officials accountable are some important interventions required to bring this scheme back on track. Of course, QA is just one part to strengthen the delivery of MDMS that is doable and deliverable within a given time frame. Larger linked issues of political will, reform and restructuring in bureaucracy, tightening of institutional delivery mechanism, public participation in governance, community oversight, transparency and accountability are the other things to need to be addressed as well. 

It appears that some in the bureaucracy believe and are resigned to the fact that such possible collateral damage may continue to happen under the present scheme of things, given the scale and expanse of MDMS, illiteracy and ignorance amongst the poor, severe resource constraints, poor delivery structure / mechanism, political interference, etc. After all, this is a mammoth program. What more can the bureaucracy and officials do. But the moot question remains….is welfare scheme’s delivery and its successful implementation somebody else’s baby?? Who has signed up for planning, deciding, controlling and/or delivering the same? Who gets paid by the hard working taxpayer for ensuring and delivering of goods and services to the poor amongst them?  

The nature, structure, challenges, compensation, etc. that go with a government service is all in the public domain and is known to every new joinee before he or she decides to join any government service. Still people line up, compete, willingly join the services and pledge to serve the nation as a matter of personal choice and pride. And this is great by the way. Later, if some of them find the task of delivering services  too ominous and too burdensome to handle with political interference and sytemic ills adding to their woes, then, it is better for them to step aside (as many conscientious do) than holding on to it and not being able to contribute. Else, how would one justify remaining in service and continuing to enjoy the compensation and perks without delivering?  

Today, the governance structure in our country treats both – a hero and a zero, alike. Comprehensive reform and restructuring must address this issue by introducing widely accepted performance enhancing tools such as mutual realistic goal setting, objective performance measurement on quantifiable and qualitative targets, system of rewards / recognition and punishment to encourage performance, and so on and so forth. Moreover, the remnants of colonial past and its hangover over bureaucracy needs to go because it no more serves the interests of British masters and presides over the natives here. The natives of then are the sovereign and masters of today. The bureaucracy is there to serve and not to rule in the name of colonial rulers as in the past. The governance structure has to reflect the distinction between those times and today. The governance structure and system must reflect the present day reality of our democratic polity.  

As such, the governance system in its present form has little or no accountability on the ground. Whether delivering to people’s satisfaction or not delivering at all, the system allows one to retain the employment along with the compensation and perks - all at the cost and burden of hardworking taxpayers. The time has come to ask such non-performing officials to step aside, to look for some easy jobs elsewhere and to let the capable and the doers within the system or outside to step in and start delivering, as the nation is on the move. It can’t wait anymore. 

Just the other day, one of the panellists - incidentally a retired IAS officer and a woman (with all due respect) on a Karan Thapar show on CNN-IBN channel had this to say as her last word….”more horror stories will continue but Mid-Day Meal Scheme must continue.” This retired bureaucrat had the audacity to make such an atrocious comment on a national channel. Did she really know what she was talking about? I am sure she did…. that such horror stories involve possible deaths of our innocent young children. Unbelievable!!

To some it may sound a fairly realistic reflection of the present day reality. Agreed, MDMS is a great interventional Program to address malnutrition of children and school enrolment issues and it MUST continue but such horrifying incidents will also continue to happen??? With all due respects, Sorry Ma’am, this is completely unacceptable. Absolutely NOT!! Not anymore. Things need to be delivered. We are not living in 70s and 80s anymore. India has moved on.  

Well, would she have dared to comment like this if there was even an iota of a possibility of any of her loved ones losing his or her life by consuming such a meal served under MDMS in the school? Would she have bothered to even send her child or grandchild to that school even if there was a small hint of such a risk? Not the least, obviously!! But she expects the poor villager to send his or her kid to school and consume the MDM food irrespective of the possible dangers of doing so in the present scheme of things. 

However, this also sums up the present day state of affairs of such Schemes/Programs and also sums up the present day reality of how some in the bureaucracy and in governance structure approach welfare delivery with little or no regard for even possible loss of precious life/lives of the poor and hungry. This is really the malaise in the system…the attitude, the approach and the stark apathy. This nation has to rid of such a systemic malaise sooner rather than later. Accepting the fact that many in the bureaucracy do not subscribe to the ridiculous view of this retired bureaucrat but what if this particular officer (being an IAS officer) or her ilk was at the helm of affairs – responsible for MDMS implementation - either in the State or at Centre today.  

Would any government, today, in the East West have carried on with such a welfare scheme ridden with such gaping holes and such inherent accompanying risks/dangers? Would any sensible mind advise the government to carry on with this welfare scheme in its present state of affairs and then wait for such horror stories to strike us at some location or the other??  

If knowledge and awareness exists in the government that there is a possible risk of even one loss of life anywhere in the country under this Scheme implementation, then no matter what, it would not be prudent for the government/s to carry on with this Scheme in its current avatar. Wouldn’t it be a sensible thing to take a short breath here, to move a few steps back, to put the scheme on temporary hold, to reflect and do some introspection, to accept past mistakes, to go for a time bound review, to apply the learning from such mistakes, to identify issues and gaps, to bring the concerned players on board with required sense of ownership, to restructure the MDMS organisation, to re-engineer processes and systems, to revamp the delivery infrastructure - all within a pre-determined time frame (as hunger doesn’t wait much) and driven by a marked sense of urgency.  

It would then make sense to restart this unique Scheme which would have eliminated potential risks and dangers of the past by then and which would also then be supported by a stable and robust delivery mechanism in place, ably supported by a trained and informed workforce, proper infrastructure –tools, equipments, space, etc., and aided by a guiding standards of desired performance on the ground. This would ensure much better results in field that can help be a great trust and confidence building tool between the people and the governance apparatus which is so necessary for achieving the objectives of this MDM scheme.  

As such, there is news trickling in from different corners of the country of school kids refusing to eat Mid-Day meals served in their schools considering the risks involved. In some cases, there are reports of parents even withdrawing their kids from the schools as a preventive step. Isn’t it time to for people at the top in government set the ball rolling without losing any more time, get everybody concerned on board and initiate the MDMS review/revamp on a war footing right away? There is no scope left for any delay. Let’s hope and pray they do it today because the poor little hungry kids are waiting for their meal. For millions hungry, a mid-day meal at school is the only food they have for the day.

Time for a new development lingo - where good economics becomes more humane and local

Despite seven decades of Independence and freedom, a reasonably free economy for the past two decades and a period of rapid and continuous GDP growth durng these two decades, India is still not able to feed and provide some of the most basic amenities to more than fifty percent of its citizens. It is disturbing to note that this country hasn't been able to provide a dignified existence to more than half its population even after two decades of an above average economic growth. Specificallly, India is today lagging behind even countries like Bhutan and Bangladesh (much poorer countries) on some key human development indicators like life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, immunization for one year olds, etc. Harsh realities on the ground must be accepted now with an open mind. Economic growth is extremely important, otherwise, where would the revenue come from. So that part of the debate stands settled. Economic growth and productivity are a must.

Another reality in this country is that the ever growing divide between the haves and haves-not has gone unchecked for long (knowingly or unknowingly) and has now reached alarming proportions despite such good growth numbers attained over the last two decades. NSSO's  and many other reports - based on empirical evidence, have and would support the asserion here, given the realities on the ground, that the rich-poor divide has widened despite a long period of rapid growth. Reasons are very many and some are complex too. However, the overall situation eventually appears to be a case of too many lost opportunities and too much of young nation's time.

A nation which continues to leave behind a majority of its people  (large percentage of that left-out group would certainly be youth)  from this growth process just cannot have sustainable growth, prosperity and peace (probably)  over a long period of time. The nation is bound to flounder and fall behind at some point in time, if the present course is not corrected in a decisive manner. Hence, the need to democratise and humanise growth and development and achieve that optimum balance. And, therefore, the time has come for India to redefine the way growth and development numbers are looked at, measured, analysed and consumed in this country today. An open mind, fresh and innovative approach, political will, and a consensus over the approach  to the subject appears to be the need of the hour.

It makes sense now to bring the paradigm of humane and local element into play in the way we look at economic growth/development performance of the nation. This cannot anymore be restricted to just the economic parameters like GDP, growth rate, per capita income, savings rate, exim growth rates, industrial productivity, forex reserves, trade deficit, fiscal deficit, monetary/currency health, and so on so forth. Development economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen is right when he says India is still far from ensuring equity, achieving balanced growth  and removing wide ranging and massive deprivations still existing in Indian society. He rightfully points out that India has actually been falling behind on several critical social indicators with respect to other developing economies. Given the realities as they exist today, there is definitely a case to reflect, to soul search, and to do a reality check.

As proof of pudding lies in eating it, the true meaning behind traditional growth/development numbers really lies in whether such high sounding numbers have a direct/indirect connect or an impact over the daily lives of common man at the grassroot level - especially of the hungry and poor, or not. The key lies in looking at whether the rate of economic growth matches the rate of quantitative and qualitative improvement in the daily life of the last man/woman standing in the line and not just of the "middle class" and whether that economic growth has widened the gap between rich and poor or reduced it.

It appears the trickle-down effect model of growth hasn't done much much to the lives of the majority of the billion plus - the most poor, hungry and ignorant of us appear to have been critically left behind in this process of rapid growth over the last twenty years. Time has arrived for India to start taking into account the overall health of the nation - incorporating actual development and performance on economic, human, social, environment, technology and innovation fronts into the overall performance to attain a holistic and inclusive picture of growth and development in this country and thereby  - of the nation’s progress. The development lingo in our country actually needs a rejig and a revamp now.

With more than a century of experience of the developed world and having closely observed the last two decades of rapid GDP growth  here in India (with some of the newly crowned bilionaires of the world being home grown now), it appears economic growth, by itself, has failed, in many ways, to "pull up" a satisfactory number of poor and hungry from levels of poverty in the way it should have had. The data shows that governmental welfare and intervention programs (notwithstanding their own ills have been largely instrumental in pushing sections of our poor out of abject poverty. Empirical data shows that the redistributive efforts of the government seem to have worked and have made the impact (albeit short of what they should have been) in removing deprivation than the growth per se. It is interesting note that in times of economic slowdown and growth rate diving to sub five percent, government  latest numbers indicate that rate of poverty reduction has gone up. So the linkage between pure economic growth and poverty reduction on the ground looks disjointed to say the least. A serious disconnect seems to exist there.

Let's look at United States - the world's biggest economy, a benchmark and a gold standard, in many ways, for developing economies across the world and including ours. Quoting Wikipedia, "with the poverty level at $23,050 (total yearly income) for a family of four in 2012, it is estimated that most Americans (58.5%) will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point in time  - between the ages 25 and 75. Poverty rates are persistently higher in rural and inner city parts of the country as compared to suburban areas." Per Wikipedia, the U.S. Census Bureau, in November 2012, informed that more than 16% of the population lived in poverty in the United States, including almost 20% of American children - highest level since 1993.  In 2011, extreme poverty in the United States, meaning households living on less than $2 per day before government benefits, was double 1996 levels at 1.5 million households, including 2.8 million children. In 2011, child poverty reached record high levels, with 16.7 million children living in food insecure households, about 35% more than 2007 levels. In 2009 the number of people who were in poverty was approaching 1960s levels that led to the national War on Poverty.

More importantly, today, a staggering 47.8 million i.e. 15 percent of the US population receives food stamp benefits, nearly double the rate of 1975. The US Department of Agriculture informs that 47.79 million people were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in December, 2012. "We spend a trillion dollars each year on federal poverty programs. That’s more than the budget for Social Security or Defense,” “But poverty seems only to increase. Something is wrong. Compassion demands that we change.", said Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, during one of his weekly addresses.

Therefore, we at home also need to do some serious rethinking with due open mindedness on the way we look at development numbers. Rather than focusing all energies on enhancing indicators like GDP, national income, per capita income, growth rate and ilk, it’s time to develop a more rounded and holistic orientation to the overall growth and development perspective. Efforts should be made to make these numbers less skewed, less superficial, more realistic, more rational, more logical, more broad-based, rooted more in realities on the ground besides keeping a laser like focus on the “human dimension” and to the “domestic/local context”. 

I believe it will make sense to collect data and measure performance on above parameters in critical areas of healthcare, education, nutrition, income distribution, real employment, gender discrimination, depth of poverty (how far are poor away from poverty line) and just poverty alone, continued access to basic amenities (like safe drinking water, hygienic sanitation, electricity, pucca housing and primary healthcare), infrastructure creation, and others. Devising and incorporating metrics on the delivery of a basket of critical and important welfare schemes/services and infrastructure projects in the above mentioned areas will add a lot of credibility to the growth/development numbers. Because “whatever gets measured gets done”.

For instance, the government could go ahead and incorporate some of these: percentage of population below poverty line, functional literacy rate, school enrolment ratio, school drop-out rates, percentage of students starting Class 1 who reach Class 5, average schooling years of the population, girls to boys ratio in education, life expectancy, infant and maternal mortality rate, percentage of infants immunised, percentage of underweight and malnourished children and anaemic mothers, percentage of births at hospitals/nursing homes/health centres, death rate due to diseases (TB/HIV/Malaria), access to safe portable drinking water, access to hygienic and respectable sanitation, female-male ratio, percentage of women in wage and skilled employment, number of skilled and unskilled jobs created, slum population as percentage of urban populace, mobile/internet/computer penetration per 100 persons, per capita energy use, per capita CO2 emissions, per capita consumption of chloro-flouro carbons, forest to land area, number of new technologies and innovations operationalized to fruition – e.g. clean fuel, energy saving/efficiency, modern irrigation, water conservation, manufacturing, etc., by assigning their appropriate weightages into the overall growth and development number calculations.

Hope there are ways to capture the data enabling calculation of such performance metrics in social services, welfare delivery, education, health and environment sectors. Surely, development economists and statisticians would figure a way out to do so if the nation needs it. It is quite possible that data in many of these areas are available and are already being collected by different agencies -within the government and outside. It is also quite possible that some of these suggested metrics may still get hard to quantify and capture in a meaningful way due to the complexities involved and therefore, those could be left out of consideration for now. However, the number crunching on the most critical ones looks no rocket science to attempt and to achieve. It is just that the government needs to gather enough political will and apply its mind and resources to get going on this. Needless to reiterate the old adage...."whatever gets measured gets done"....... for the positives of such a move are wide ranging and many.

Let's roll up our sleeves and find out where do we actually stand today and then prepare for the road ahead. Time is running out. Not only our poor and hungry are waiting for help but the world is looking at us to show the new way to make it a better place to live and thrive..