• The biggest problem faced by any SAARC country is poverty. Poverty has a wide spectrum of causes which vary from country to country. Issues like Naxalism in India, Civil wars in Sri Lanka, Terrorism in Pakistan have a direct link to poverty. Illiteracy and ignorance have resulted in an unbridled rise in population in many under developed nations. This is one of the alarming problems faced by the world considering its impact on global food and commodity market. The impact is so severe that, India which once was an exporter of food grains became an importer. The literacy rate of a country is dependent on socio-economic status of the people. This problem can be viewed from the other side in a different way. Though the land under cultivation in India is more than that of China, Indian agriculture can't feed its own people, while the Chinese could feed themselves. 60% people in India rely on agriculture directly, but its contribution towards GDP is just around 20% to 30% .Lack of implementation of modern technology in the field of agriculture, fragmented land holdings, low irrigation potential, unviable returns etc can be shown as the causes here. Considering the GDP as the bench mark for development of a country, India registered a growth rate around 9% only after globalization in 1991. This clearly indicates that market based economy with minimum regulations encourage entrepreneurship. Survival of small scale and micro level industries is one of the key aspects in the success of a country as majority of the population lives in rural areas (at least in SAARC countries). Since the current GDP growth of India doesn’t reflect much in rural sector, microfinance has a very huge role to play. Mr Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh needs to be appreciated for his brilliant idea of Grameen Bank and the way he changed the fundamentals of microfinance with SHGs (Self Help Groups). Because of his foresight in woman’s role in developing a society, rural sector of Bangladesh has improved a lot and set itself as a role model for other nations. This concept of SHGs has become a huge success with a return rate of 90% compared to banks’ return rate of 50 to 60% .As of 2009-10, my hometown Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh has 41,015 SHGs with a corpus fund of around Rs 162 crores within 12 years of their inception.
• Farmers in India are poor not only due to socio-economical background but also due to exploitation by middle men. Most of them are illiterate and don’t know to market their produce properly, can’t judge any error in calculation of quantity and delay in payment of money. A very good solution is proposed by ITC Ltd to curb middlemenship. One single farmer is trained to operate a computer and able to use internet to check the current market price of their produce. The cost of computer setup is borne by ITC and they also introduced fair measuring practices. This way both farmers as well as ITC are being benefitted.
• The other major problem faced by every SAARC nation is health. In India there is 1 bed for every 1000 patients. Total expenditure on health is 5% of GDP.
• One main problem in medical sector apart from infrastructure is unwillingness of doctors to practice in rural areas resulting in poor medical conditions. In this regard government of Andhra Pradesh has taken the initiative in making it compulsory for the doctors to work in rural areas for one year, before their degrees are registered. This way almost 4000 doctors are inducted into the system of proper healthcare every year. Further, the telemedicine project where specialist doctors of corporate hospitals are available for consultation in real time is a boon for the poor patients from faraway places. The clinical findings are relayed to the corporate hospitals for a professional advice from the specialist.