EC’s technical assistance team head resigns

EHM News Bureau - New Delhi

After more than 4 years as team leader of the European Commission’s Technical Assistance (ECTA) Team for the EC assisted Sector Investment Programme (SIP) Dr Christopher Potter has resigned.

The Sector Investment Programme was initiated in October 1998 and it currently covers 25 states in association with the Department of Family Welfare, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The SIP was intended to assist the Government of India with the organisational and operational reforms set out in the GoI’s 1996 booklet “The Paradigm Shift” which signalled India’s movement away from reproductive health targets, and a commitment to greater decentralisation and better quality of primary health care services for India’s poorest women and children in particular.

The SIP has aimed to study how the way national policies work hamper effective state action across the country, and the way state policies and practices hinder district and sub-district effectiveness. “DANIDA has worked with Madhya Pradesh for 30 years; DIFD with few states like Orrisa for years, and yet there is a general recognition that these projects have not been as effective as they should have been. Although states are, in theory, independent in regard to health matters, the cuncurrent list and the near bankruptcy of most states, linked to their dependence on central government funding, means that their independence is largely illusory,” says Dr Potter.

During Dr Potter’s term, ECTA has been very active in facilitating co-ordination between the international development partners working in the sector. Inspite of his desire to continue work in India, Dr Potter resigned last month because the EC wants to move away from supporting organisational reforms, such as the systems reforms on decentralised planning and management. “If this happens, traditional projects and state oriented activities will continue to disappoint international agencies and GoI alike,” Dr Potter says. According to the CAG report on the MoHFW for 1999/2000, there is a general recognition that finance is poorly used and slowly disbursed, he adds. According to Jeffery Sachs, the Government of India should spend more on health but the MoHFW fails to spend properly what it gets from domestic and external sources.

Dr Potter appears to be in a good position to draw that conclusion, having worked in India since the early 1990s on a considerable range of projects all over the country for other agencies including World Bank. Dr Potter also says that inspite of high levels of qualifications and considerable experience of the ECTA, he had been increasingly disappointed that senior staff within the EC seemed to have little interest in the Programme. “More recently decentralisation within the EC itself had created day to day difficulties with management styles and decision making which he felt were detrimental to the continuing success of the Programme. In particular, EC’s failure to consult or advise ECTA of key decisions and events, including a recent announcement that EC had decided to move away from sector support to working more closely with just one, or a very few States, undermined the work I had led for the last 4 years,” says Dr Potter.

Dr Potter said it had been a very difficult decision to reach, especially in light of the commitment of the GoI, his team and other international agencies for the Programme. His own enthusiasm for the Programme and the commitment of his team was undiminished, however, he felt that resignation was the only way he could sufficiently draw attention to his disappointment with the EC.

Along with technical assistance the EC gave India a grant of up to Euro 200 million over a 5 year period, depending on performance against agreed benchmarks. This was increased by a further Euro 40 million to assist with the redevelopment of health services in 6 districts most effected by Gujarat’s earthquake.

ECTA working with representatives of States and other international donors had successfully introduced a more holistic approach to primary health care planning and management in 20 Districts, and this number is already increasing to over 40. So far the ECTA has produced well over 100 technical publications, many of which are available electronically via its web-site www.echfwp.com.

Dr Potter is returning to his academic role at the University of Wales College of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. As he says, “India has become my second home. I hope to be back, to help the country which has been so hospitable to him.”