An efficient delivery system is essential to keep up the achievements made by Kerala in the social sector over the decades, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said on Saturday.
"Kerala has achieved remarkable growth in life index compared to many other Indian states. Now it is important that these achievements are maintained by improving the delivery system," he said, inaugurating an international conference on Reaching out to people: Achieving Millennium Development Goals through Innovative Public Service Delivery.
Among all states, Kerala had been able to achieve a high physical quality of life index due to various innovative measures taken by the state government, the chief minister said.
"Kerala has had some excellent models of service delivery and poverty alleviation such as Kudumbashree, Akshaya, the Friends programme. Our innovations in health, education and welfare legislations have contributed greatly to the high physical quality of life index," Achutanandan said.
The state had also made important strides in the field of e-governance and providing IT infrastructure, he said elaborating the delivery of services during the tenure of his four-year-old government.
Around 40 delegates from various foreign countries including Nepal, US, France, Australia and Sri Lanka are participating with their Indian counterparts in the three-day conference organised by Network of Asia-Pacific Schools and Institute of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG) and Institute of Management in Government (IMG) here.
The conference, aimed at the capacity building of implementers in governance, would address various aspects of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) with delegates from Asia-Pacific region sharing their experience.
State Chief Secretary P Prabhakaran, who presided over the conference, said in a vast and populous country like India, well planned and co-ordination efforts were needed to implement the MDG formulated by the United Nations.
"Kerala has a fairly high human development index. It’s achievements in fields like primary education, rural health and sanitation are high. But it has to go a long way to achieve the MDGs,"