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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
to pull out of India
WSN Network
 Bill
Gates was in India recently and received an award from the
government for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) work.
India has been the largest recipient of the BMGF funds and the
foundation's Indian arm Avahan received a lot of publicity but now
it seems the foundation, notwithstanding the Gates' visit, is
planning to pull out of India. It is looking forward to hand over
the work but even the government is not ready to take over.
The Foundation
has conceded that such plans indeed are in the offing: “We recognise
that the fight to stop HIV/ AIDS in
India
is far from over, and we are working with our partners to ensure
that prevention efforts are sustainable. To help achieve that, we’re
providing extensive support and training to help government agencies
and NGOs effectively manage prevention programmes. Over the next
five years, we anticipate that these organisations will gradually
adopt some aspects of Avahan’s current work, and that we will reduce
our day-to-day role in programme implementation.”
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The
Foundation wants to hand over the work to the government which
is reluctant to take over. Reports from local NGOs where the
Foundation works say a large chunk of the projects it started
were not successful and did not make much impact. |
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BMGF has spent
nearly $260 million (Rs 1,300 crore) since 2003 on “targeted
intervention” in India. However, reports from the local NGOs in six
states (Karnataka,
Maharashtra,
Nagaland, Manipur, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh) say a large chunk
of the projects it started were not successful and did not make the
kind of impact they should have. Some blame it on poor monitoring
and coordination of the programme by Avahan; others say the
intervention was misdirected.
 Besides,
the average cost per beneficiary per year among Avahan-supported
programmes was $45, well below the ADB-UNAIDS guidelines of $90-100
per beneficiary for high-risk groups in Asia. According to NGOs,
Avahan was unable to extend its reach beyond the six states it
started out in. The country as a whole never came into their net.
Instead, they even halved the number of focus sites that they had
started within the six states.
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The
Vaccine Evangelist
In his first
avatar, Bill Gates changed our world by putting a computer on
every desk. In his second avatar, he is doing more. Saving
lives. And he isn’t doing too badly. The man often called an
entrepreneur-turned vaccine evangelist now works through The
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says he's driven by the
urgency that children are dying. Last Thursday, his Foundation
increased its funding commitment to Avahan — its initiative to
reduce the spread of HIV in India —to $338 million (Rs 1,650
crore) from the previous $258 million. What really made him give
away most of his money to charity, with only a small part left
for his three children, Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe?
“It is not
great for kids to inherit large amount of wealth. Everybody
should make up their own minds. At least in my and Melinada’s
case we decided it would be better for our children if we give
away the money as opposed to largely giving it to them. The rich
should take their skills and try to give back to society in the
best way possible,” said Gates.
Gates is a
passionate proponent of creative capitalism — companies giving
back to society — and believes that it has improved the lives of
billions. According to him, companies can make a difference
while adding to their bottom line, consumers get to show their
support for a good cause, and most importantly, lives are saved. |
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BMGF has also
come under the scanner for the high salaries and allowances it pays
its executives, at par with international business organisations
(many of them are from that background). People in similar positions
in other international NGOs and those with the National AIDS Control
Organisation (NACO) are not even paid half the amount. For example,
an information officer in Avahan is said to have been paid anywhere
between Rs 75,000 and 1.5 lakh a month while a NACO official in the
same grade gets Rs 25,000-40,000. BMGF also spends lavishly on
travel and glossy publications. Annual reports is another area where
a good chunk of their money goes.
The government
now fears that the Foundation is leaving behind a defunct machinery
and millions of wasted dollars. During his visit, Gates confirmed
that Avahan, the Foundation's Rs 1,652-crore India AIDS Initiative,
will handover operations to the government by 2014.
He said India's
record on routine immunization was poor.
India
accounts for about 40 per cent of world measles deaths while even
Africa
is better.
29
July 2009
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