DFID helps lift 3 million people permanently out of poverty every year: Suma Chakrabarti

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: When Suma Chakrabarti took over as Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Development (DFID) on February 18, 2002, he had to face criticism from some quarters for negotiating family friendly working hours that enabled him to spend more time with his daughter Maya. The prime minister’s spokesman had to defend the head of the British government department that spends more than £5 billion annually to help eliminate poverty in poor countries.

Today five years later the senior most government staffer of Indian origin, now 45, has not only earned a knighthood for his distinguished work, but also become a role model for top achievers for striking a balance between work and family. Excerpts from an interview with Rajiv Tikoo of The Financial Express:

How does it feel heading DFID, which is working in over 150 countries with an annual budget of more than £5 billion?

It’s a great honour to head DFID. Having worked my way up through the organisation over 20 years and witnessing its evolution, I am very proud of what we have achieved together.

How do you look back five years later at the controversy surrounding your appointment?

It’s with hope in some respects, and with concerns in some areas. We have made great progress on work/life balance in some parts of the civil service. We have made some progress towards a more diverse senior civil service but the rate of change is too slow. Look at the small number of female permanent secretaries. We’ve got to push harder.

DFID’s aim to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty seems lofty. Is it heady or humbling?

I don’t see anything lofty about DFID’s aims. It’s quite the opposite. We are trying to achieve concrete objectives based around the Millennium Development Goals, which are basically about improving the lives of ordinary people around the world. It is great for an organisation to have clarity of mission. Too many aid organisations lose effectiveness because of having multiple objectives like foreign and commercial policy as well as poverty reduction.

Most developed countries, including the UK, have not fulfilled their Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment of 0.7% of GNP for decades. Why is it so?