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DFID has maintained a large development programme in India since 1997 (currently DFID's largest country programme). Over that period DFID has worked in close partnership with the Indian Government (and also with multilateral and civil society) to help improve India's progress against the millennium development goals.In 1997, the programme was geographically dispersed and covered a wide range of sectors. Over the next decade, the programme budget rose steadily but the portfolio was honed so that DFID India was managing fewer, larger projects in those sectors where we knew we were having the most impact; particularly health, education, rural livelihoods and urban development. DFID now only works at the state level in the five states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal, as well as with central Government.DFID India is soon to launch its new country plan for India, setting out its strategy to 2015. As well as continuing to work in those sectors where significant impact has been made, there will be an enhanced focus on the poorest sections of Indian society. There will also be a new element in which DFID collaborates with the Indian Government on poverty issues that affect the poor worldwide and not just in India, such as climate change. |