The global human population has crossed the 7 Billion mark today. Significantly, it
has taken just over 2 centuries for the global community to grow 7 times of
their size from around 1 billion at the beginning of the 19th century to over 7
billion in 2011, and we may well double ourselves over the next century. We at
India are inching closer to the 18% of the total world population. While the
human population has made remarkable strides, poverty, malnutrition, high
infant death rates still plague considerable members of the population. Many
countries are dealing with internal discord and external strife. Terrorism
and war between nation states have considerable impact on the lives of the
people for decades and generations to come. Wars have considerable impact on
the economies of all countries involved. Several countries may not reach the
desired United Nation's Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Ensuring proper
healthcare facilities remains a challenge. The damage caused to the environment
during the development process will only boomerang on us. It's time to look
back at the achievements and failures, reevaluate, evolve and implement strategies for a
prosperous, peaceful and environment-friendly world. A daunting task ahead.
Will the division of a large state to several smaller states enable better administration or development of regions in question? Perhaps, the solution lies in decentralization of administrative functions, rather than the division of a state. But decentralization in itself would not deliver the desired results. Equitable and balanced regional development could be achieved through the combination of DGPP - Decentralization, Good Governance, and Public Private Partnerships. A small administrative region could be a handicap if the same is not backed by good governance or is characterized with political instability. Good governance is crucial for removing the bottlenecks in development and ensuring planned development of villages, towns and cities in the respective regions. Again, decentralization should be complemented with Public Private Partnerships at the district level to achieve the desired development goals, address employment issues, improve surface transport facilities, deliver ...