New Delhi, Oct 27: The World Bank has taken an important initiative to focus on economic reform at the state level. It has sponsored the launch of a national forum called "India States' Reform Forum 2000" which is to meet on November 23 to 25 to discuss "Fiscal and Governance Reforms for Poverty Reduction". The forum will discuss problems of economic reform and poverty reduction at the state- level, drawing on the experience within India and from other developing countries.Participants at the three-day forum will include the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh, chief economist of the World Bank Nicholas Stern, former finance minister of Argentina Domingo Cavalho, Provincial Governor of Salta (Argentina), Mr Percy Allen, former head of treasury, New South Wales, Australia, Mr Selena Peres, advisor to the minister of planning, Brazil, and Mr K C Pant, deputy chairman of the Indian Planning Commission, among 50 others.
The India States' Reform Forum is being co-sponsored by the Planning Commission, the Union ministry of finance and the National Institue of Public Finance and Fiscal Policy. It will be largely funded by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the UK Department of International Development (DFID), the Government of Netherlands and the Swiss Development Corporation.
While the Delhi-based NIPFP is the nodal institution organising the event at New Delhi's Taj Palace Hotel, it is understood that the World Bank has taken the initiative to put together this forum.
Among the technical issues the forum is expected to discuss, the prominent items include introduction of value-added tax at the state level, e-governance and IT and fiscal management by states. The forum will also discuss wider political economy issues relating to building consensus for economic reform at the state level, civil service reform, promoting transparency in government operations and assessing the impact of reforms on poverty.
With the focus of both multilateral and bilateral development assistance shifting to the state level and with the World Bank extending state-level structural adjustment policy-based loans, it has become necessary for the Bank and other donor agencies to seek a better grip on problems of state-level reform. This forum, which the Bank describes as a "high-level gathering on state reforms" will be the first platform of its kind enabling an interaction between state-level politicians and civil servants and international experts and donors.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.