Mr. Lennart Båge, President of IFAD visited India from November 27-December 2, 2002 on the invitation of Government of India. This visit was undertaken to further deepen the relationship between the Government of India and IFAD; exchange views on the performance of IFAD-assisted projects in India and the future strategies of IFAD’s assistance to India; and to make people, especially the policy makers and opinion builders, aware of IFAD and its activities in India. Government of India declared the President a ‘State Guest’ and advised the State Governments of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to accord full protocol during his field visit.

In Delhi, the President met Mr. S. Narayan, Finance Secretary and other senior government officials of Ministry of Finance. He also called on Mr. Ajit Singh, Agriculture Minister and Mr. Yashwant Sinha, External Affairs Minister. The President addressed the UN Heads of Agencies in India and a meeting of the representatives of OECD countries organised by the Embassy of Sweden. Mr. Pedro Medrano, UN Resident Coordinator, a.i. and WFP Country Director hosted a dinner in honour of the President.

As part of the field visit, the President visited Chhattisgarh, where the IFAD assisted Jharkhand-Chhatisgarh Tribal Development Programme is being implemented. This programme is supervised directly by IFAD. The President called on Mr. Ajit Jogi, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and had a very wide-ranging discussion on issues of tribal development and strategies for future projects in the State. The President then visited the project area and had in-depth interactions with the programme beneficiaries.

In Maharashtra, the President visited the Maharashtra Rural Credit Project area in Chandrapur, and spent considerable time talking directly to beneficiaries, NGOs and project staff.

During the last leg of his visit, the President visited Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He inaugurated IFAD’s Regional Poverty Strategy Symposium, where the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms. J. Jayalalithaa was the Chief Guest and delivered the keynote address.

In Chennai, the President delivered the Hindu Millenium Lecture organised by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. He also delivered the keynote address to the Consultation on Peace, Freedom from Hunger and Sustainable Development : The Ethical Dimensions organised at MSSRF, Chennai. In Tamil Nadu, given the time constraint, field visits were undertaken within the periphery of Chennai. The President visited the groups organised by the Working Women’s Forum and the self-help groups organised by the IFAD-assisted Tamil Nadu Women’s Development Project. The IFAD model is being implemented all over the state by the Government of Tamil Nadu