§ 12. Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's aid programmes in India. [127749]
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§ Clare ShortBritain has a large and growing programme of development assistance to India: we expect to spend about £125 million this year, rising to £140 million in 2001–02. This reflects the fact that about a third of the world's poorest people live in India, and we see good opportunities to work with reforming states to tackle poverty more effectively. We are supporting programmes of fiscal and public sector reform, to help improve accountability and access by the poorest to basic education, health, water and sanitation, and to promote better management of the natural and physical environment. Our programme is currently focused on Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal, and we are collaborating closely with the World bank, the Asian Development bank, UNICEF and other major development agencies. In all our programmes we take particular care to ensure the inclusion of poor women and girls and members of scheduled castes and tribes.
I am placing a copy of our India Country Strategy Paper in the Library of the House.