Babus now have a solution to rid India of its most serious problem-Poverty

In a bid to end rural poverty, top bureaucrats of the central government have recommended ways to overcome the hurdles of infrastructure, healthcare, employment and education in rural and backward area. These steps include creating a national pool of doctors for short-term voluntary postings in tribal areas and building comfortable and secure infrastructure at sub-division level to retain staffers at field level, as per a news report by The Economic Times.

The 46 secretaries to the Government of India have recently submitted a report on ground-level conditions after visiting their first place of posting in January on orders from Prime Minister.

The 'Report of visit of secretaries to their first place of posting' " which was reviewed by The Economic Times " has listed a range of infrastructure, sanitation and employment problems at the ground level, indicating years of bureaucratic neglect and administrative inefficiency.

Pointing to the abysmal healthcare facilities at ground level, the report recommends creating a "voluntary national pool of doctors, both retired and serving, who should be willing to go to backward tribal areas for a short period of say, three to six months, after which, they could return to their place of posting".
The report also suggests the management of solid waste should be incorporated under the 'Swachch Bharat Abhiyan'.
The home secretary, in his report, called for strengthening the Pradhan Mantrai Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) by expanding its ambit to include eligible habitations based on 2011 census, instead of the 2001 census.

A key area of concern pointed out in the report is the inadequate presence of cutting edge staff at field level, which impacts efficiency of public service delivery. Secretaries pointed to near 30% vacancies at the collectorate level and also across departments, schoolteachers and doctors.
The recommendations also include stationing at least one government representative at each village, which will help in execution of multiple central schemes running at the block or village level like say the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the National Rural Health Mission.

(Image: Reuters)