Bhopal, Mar 7: DFID's director for Southeast Asia region Jim Drummond paid a courtesy visit to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here today. The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing financial assistance to achieve the Millennium Development Targets set by the United Nations. In India, apart from Madhya Pradesh, financial assistance is being extended to Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh for conducting various programmes.

The Chief Minister gave information about works being undertaken in Madhya Pradesh in the fields of health, rural livelihood, education and financial management. The DFID team was given detailed information about the poverty alleviation programmes being implemented with the co-operation of DFID. Besides Drummond, the team also comprised senior programme manager Chris Charles, governance advisor Peter Ivans and state representative Taposh Roy.

Chouhan assured the DFID team that the projects being implemented with their co-operation would yield good results. Villagers are getting benefits from Livelihood Mission's activities. Thanking DFID for the co-operation extended by it, he said that success has been achieved in increasing institutional delivery in Madhya Pradesh. Details about new schemes launched in the state and programmes for eradicating malnutrition for helping poor sections of society were also given to DFID team.

The Chief Minister hoped for more co-operation in Madhya Pradesh Health Sector Support Programme and Rural Livelihoods Project. Apart from Bal Sanjivani, Bal Shakti and Shaktimaan programmes, Chouhan also informed the team about the role of Rogi Kalyan Samitis. Principal Secretary Finance Shri Ashok Das, Chief Minister's secretary Anurag Jain and director Institutional Finance Ms Pallavi Jain Govil were also present on the occasion.