Social sector development: "Outlays vs. outcomes" - An overview
- 2005
- p.314-326.
- Jul-Sep
Efficient financial system and its management are vital for the economic development and prosperity of a country. Inspite of huge allocations and a genuine concern for disadvantaged and deprived strata of society the progress of social sector development in India is rather tardy. Besides very large increase in population the single most conspicuous factor for this sluggishness in development is due to inadequacies for implementation and delivery mechanisms. Lack of focussed planning, delays in critical allocations, bureaucratic wranglings and rampant corruptions have contributed to failed targets. Yet the strides made in individual sectors have yielded encouraging results. We cannot assume that the transitions between different stages of development is always so blurred. What is needed is little bit of fine tuning to reflect results of various sectors in nation's Human Development Index. Outlays and outcomes are like optimism and scepticism in development. Characteristically, the hope involves redefinition of past and present in terms of an imagined future. This optimism lies in the fact that an intelligent policy can shape implementation and influence outcomes. - Reproduced.