The Last Mile

The Last Mile explores the gaps and dichotomy between drafted policies and their implementation and the last mile challenges which often make public services inaccessible to the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society.

Amarjeet Sinha is currently a member of the Public Enterprises Selection Board, India. He was earlier posted as advisor to the prime minister of India till 31 July 2021. A retired Indian administrative service officer, he has over 40 years of experience working in government, largely in the rural and social sectors. He has had the unique distinction of having played a major role in designing the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (India's main programme for Universal Elementary Education), the National Rural Health Mission, and in bringing about governance reforms in programmes for rural areas covering livelihoods, employment, housing, social security, skills, rurban development, and road construction. He is also the author of An India for Everyone - A Path to Inclusive Development (2013).

Introduction 1 A Poverty-Free India: Building Systems for Outcomes 2 The Historical Legacy 3 The Diversity of Geographies 4 High Growth, Ease of Doing Business, and Well-Being 5 Improving Ease of Living of the Poor 6 Why Incomes Matter 7 Women's Well-Being and Livelihoods 8 Women, Work, and Well-Being 9 Vulnerable Social Groups, Inclusive Policies and Programmes 10 Policy and Programme Formulation in Basic Education 11 Revisiting Skills for Full Employment 12 Higher Education: Meeting the Challenge 13 Policy and Programme Formulation in Health 14 Making Quality Health for All a Reality 15 Poshan, People, and Panchayats 16 Improving Governance of Programmes 17 Community Connect, GPDPs, and Rankings 18 Human Resource Reforms 19 Poverty-Free Gram Panchayats 20 Improving Well-Being of Urban Poor 21 Why We Need the PM's Human Development Council 22 Global Warming: Local Churning 23 A Poverty-Free India: Concluding Remarks 24 An India for All