FM warns against tardy development

Asserting that little progress has so far been made towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today told the international community that achieving these aims was critical not only for the poor and underprivileged but also for the world at large.

"The global community has little to show by way of conversion of the Millennium (Development Goals) resolve into action," he said, addressing the development committee of the World Bank and International Monetary Federation (IMF) for the transfer of real resources to developing countries here.

"Achieving these goals are critical not only for the poor and the underprivileged but also for the world as a whole," he added.

The goals include halving, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day and half, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger; achieving universal primary education by 2015.