7-May-2022: Aspirational district concept based on objective parameters

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Aspirational District concept is based on objective parameters and the Aspirational District Programme (ADP) is scientifically designed with evaluation based on certain essential indices.

Accordingly, 112 districts were identified across the country for special focus to bring about transformation.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the Aspirational Districts programme launched by Prime Minister four years ago is aimed at localizing Sustainable Development Goals, leading to the progress of the nation. This was stated by the Minister, while reviewing the progress of work being carried out in Sitamarhi district of Bihar last evening under the Aspirational District Programme (ADP). Sitamarhi is one of the 13 Aspirational Districts in Bihar.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that ADP has emerged as a shining example of competitive & cooperative federalism, where Districts are prodded and encouraged to first catch up with the best district within their state, and subsequently aspire to become one of the best in the country, by competing with and learning from others. He informed that the broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts through monthly delta ranking; all driven by a mass movement.

Regarding the work done in Sitamarhi, Bihar under ADP, Dr Jitendra Singh noted with satisfaction that it has made considerable improvement across various socio-economic indicators and the district is one of the top performers from the State under the Education Scheme. In education, the district has strived to improve the ‘pupil-teacher ratio in elementary schools’ from 16% to 35% in the last 4 years, indicating improvement in governance and capacity building. Sitamarhi is also nearing saturation in indicators related to school infrastructure and it has also initiated innovative best practices such as initiation of Modern Libraries, initiating a mass movement to have wholehearted participation from students, teachers and parents, which can be replicated in other districts.

Dr Jitendra Singh was given a detailed presentation by District Magistrate Sunil Kumar Yadav and apprised him of the progress made in key indicators related to pregnant women health and child nutrition that address issues like MMR and IMR. The district has shown good improvement in indicators such as ‘percentage of institutional deliveries’ ‘percentage of children fully immunized, ‘percentage of underweight children under 6 years. The Minister directed the concerned officers to work with utmost dedication in order to be amongst the top in the ranks of the Programme.

The District Magistrate informed that based on good work done in ‘Agriculture and Water Resources’ on ADP indicators, Sitamarhi has been rewarded with 5 projects with estimated cost 302.69 lakh on 22nd March 2022 that include Establishment of Mushroom Spawn production unit and Establishment of Custom Hiring Centre of Farm Machinery for purpose of Agriculture mechanization in Sitamarhi.

Referring to Prime Minister’s special focus on financial inclusion, Dr Jitendra Singh directed the officials to work hard and strive for saturation in financial inclusion that is ‘number of Jan Dhan accounts opened’ and in Health that is ‘Percentage of children fully immunized (9-11 months). The district also needs to improve the administrative reported data quality, the Minister added.

Noteworthy to mention that Centre has directed Union Ministers to visit different aspirational districts for official appraisal of the ground level assessment of the initiative. Launched by the Prime Minister in January 2018, ADP aims to quickly and effectively transform under-developed districts across the country. The broad outline of the programme includes Convergence, Collaboration and Competition among districts through monthly delta ranking, all driven by a mass movement.

With States as the main drivers, this program focuses on the strength of each district, identifying low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement and measuring progress by ranking districts on a monthly basis. The ranking is based on the incremental progress made across 49 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) under 5 broad socio-economic themes - Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development and Infrastructure. The delta-ranking of Aspirational Districts and the performance of all districts is available on the Champions of Change Dashboard.

25-Apr-2022: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh visits Baramulla, reviews developmental scenario under Aspirational District Programme

As part of Union Government’s special outreach Programme to get first hand appraisal of various developmental parameters, Union Minister of State (IC) Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (IC) Ministry of Earth Science; MoS of Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh today chaired a meeting at Dak Bungalow, Baramulla in J&K and reviewed progress of work being carried out under the Aspirational District Programme (ADP).

Speaking on the occasion Union Minister said that Central Government is committed to raising the living standards of its citizens and ensuring inclusive growth for all. He said that ADP closely focuses on improving people’s ability to participate fully in the developmental economy.

The minister said that the areas such as PM Fasal Bima Yojana, electronic National Agriculture Market, Bharat Net facility in each Panchayat, financial inclusion shall be some of the aspects to be addressed under ADP.

Deliberating on the mechanism of the programme Dr. Singh said that the districts are encouraged to first catch up with the best district within their state, and subsequently aspire to become one of the best in the country, by competing with, and learning from others.

Praising the work done in Baramulla under ADP, he said that by means of aspirational district there is contribution at different levels of work culture, social culture and behavioural culture to achieve the standard prescribed benchmark. He praised the utility of the model and said that it is based on a scientific approach which has the scope of dynamic real-time evaluation.

He said that government is committed to take Baramulla to the maximum of its potential in sustainable development and economic growth with proper follow-ups from time to time. Praising the biodiversity of the district he said that Baramulla is one of the oldest districts of J&K with huge forest reserves. He expressed his view of organising biotechnology workshops in the region to make people aware about the technological innovation for effective cost and time management.

After taking a comprehensive review of different parameters which have contributed to making Baramulla as one among the aspirational districts of India, Dr. Singh lauded the role of district administration for its efforts in achievements under ADP. He also directed the concerned officers to work with utmost dedication in order to be amongst the top in the ranks of the Programme.

Meanwhile various issues hampering the path of overall progress were thoroughly discussed in the meeting which the minster assured shall be taken into consideration for their timely resolution. Deputy Commissioner Baramulla and other officials of the district administration were also present in the meeting.

Noteworthy to mention that Centre has directed Union Ministers to visit different aspirational districts for official appraisal of the ground level assessment of the initiative. Launched by the Prime Minister in January 2018, ADP aims to quickly and effectively transform under-developed districts across the country. The broad outline of the programme includes Convergence, Collaboration and Competition among districts through monthly delta ranking, all driven by a mass movement.

Another focus of the programme is to further dive into the progress at the block-level within each district. The districts are encouraged to monitor the progress of the blocks that lead to the overall improvement of the district. ADP essentially is aimed at localizing Sustainable Development Goals, leading to the progress of the nation.

13-Apr-2022: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visits Goalpara to review the progress of various developmental projects under Aspirational Districts Programme

The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal today visited Goalpara district to assess and review the progress of various developmental projects under Aspirational Districts Programme of Government of India. The Minister visited the Universal Health Centres and FRU hospitals at Dudhnoi and interacted with the healthcare workers and doctors here today.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “The Aspirational Districts programme is a visionary project of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. It was launched with an aim to improve the standard of living of citizens by bringing transformational changes in healthcare & nutrition, education, agriculture, water resources, financial inclusion as well as skill development and infrastructure. Today, I have reviewed the progress made in the healthcare space of the districts as per directions of our Prime Minister. We are committed to the holistic development of Goalpara district. Our double engine governments at Centre and State will ensure that our goal is achieved within set deadline.”

While reviewing the projects, the Union Minister called upon the officials of the district to work towards developing health, education, water resources, agriculture, nutrition especially for women & children, skill development of youth. In addition, the Minister instructed the Monitoring Team to keep a sharp vigil on detailed implementation of welfare schemes. The Minister further stressed the importance of public awareness about the progress made in various projects under this Aspirational Districts programme.

Adding on, the Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, said, “In line with the vision of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji to double farmer’s income by end of 2022, we must work towards improving farm production of Goalpara because we have lot of potential in farming and animal husbandry in this district. We must strengthen and empower self-help groups in this regard.”

Speaking about the proposed Ayurvedic College at Dudhnoi, the Union Ayush Minister, added, “The work at the proposed Ayurvedic college in Dudhnoi will start soon. It is an important step towards the holistic development of the district and its people. The steps taken under the Aspirational Districts programme will usher the vision of the Prime Minister’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwaas aur Sabka Prayas’ into reality as the district is inching towards a positive change in socio economic aspects. We will continue to strive towards this direction of positive change, development and growth of the living standard in the district.”

The Aspirational Districts Programme was launched by Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in January 2018. It was an endeavour by the government to raise the living standards of citizens for an inclusive growth. A total of 117 Aspirational Districts across India have been identified by the NITI Aayog based upon composite indicators from health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development and basic infrastructure.

11-Jun-2021: UNDP Report Lauds Aspirational Districts Programme, Recommends Replication in Other Parts of the World

In an independent appraisal report released today, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India has lauded the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) as ‘a very successful model of local area development’ that ‘should serve as a best practice for several other countries where regional disparities in development status persist for many reasons’.

The report said due to concerted efforts made under the ADP, previously neglected districts, including those in remote locations and those affected by Left Wing Extremism, ‘have experienced more growth and development in the last three years than ever before’. Notwithstanding some speedbumps in its journey, the APD ‘has been immensely successful in propelling development among the backward districts’.

The report was handed over today by UNDP India Resident Representative Shoko Noda to NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amitabh Kant. It captures the progress of the Aspirational Districts Programme and makes recommendations for further improvements. The report is based on quantitative analysis of publicly available data as well as interviews with various stakeholders, including district magistrates, central prabhari officers, district fellows and other development partners.

UNDP’s analysis across the 5 key sectors of the ADP—health and nutrition; education; agriculture and water resources; basic infrastructure; and skill development and financial inclusion—found that the programme has acted as a catalyst for expediting development in these districts. According to the report, while health and nutrition, education, and to a certain extent, agriculture and water resources, have registered massive improvements, the other indicators despite making significant strides offer scope for further strengthening.

A comparison between the Aspirational Districts and their counterparts found that ADs have outperformed non-ADs. Across the sectors of health and nutrition and financial inclusion, the report found that 9.6% more home deliveries are attended by a skilled birth attendant; 5.8% more pregnant women with severe anemia are treated; 4.8% more children diagnosed with diarrhoea are treated; 4.5% more pregnant women register for antenatal care within their first trimester; 406 and 847 more enrolments, and 1580 more accounts opened per 1 lakh population under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantra Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, respectively. UNDP also recommends the ‘Malaria Mukt Bastar Abhiyaan’ in Bijapur and Dantewada, which has reduced malaria incidences in these districts by 71% and 54%, respectively, as one of the ‘best practices’ found in Aspirational Districts.

According to the report, the districts have also admitted that the continued focus of the programme on health and nutrition has helped them in tackling the Covid crisis with greater resilience. For instance, ‘Malkangiri district in Odisha, which is located in close proximity to both neighbouring states of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, became an entry point for several migrant workers returning back to the state during the initial phase of lockdown. The district officials claimed to have used their new infrastructure to serve as institutional quarantine centres for migrants.’

Monitoring real-time data, convergence across government programmes and schemes and receiving the benefits of the Aspirational Districts Programme by substantial margins have been credited as the reasons behind the success of the initiative.

The report also recognizes the unique collaborative nature of the programme to bring all stakeholders, including state and local governments, development partners, and citizens, together to achieve goals and targets. It is this key pillar that enabled district commissioners ‘to build a strong Covid-19 response and cope with the challenges of the pandemic by working in close coordination’ with the panchayats, faith and community leaders and development partners in their respective districts.

The report also acknowledged the remarkable commitment shown by the topmost political leadership of the country, including Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, towards the programme. Ever since the launch of the programme in 2018, the PM has constantly ‘motivated and enthused district collectors to deliver their best at the field level’.

While exploring the 3Cs,‘Convergence, Competition and Collaboration’, approach of the ADP, the report said most interviewees ‘emphasized on the importance of convergence that fostered moving away from working in silos towards synchronised planning and governance to achieve the targets of the programme’. Similarly, the ‘competition’ aspect too was found ‘to be helpful in promoting better monitoring and creating healthy competition to achieve targets of the programme. This also served as a motivating factor for districts to increase their efforts and track progress’.

The programme has strengthened the technical and administrative capacities of the districts, however, the report said there was a need to focus more on capacity building, ‘including the appointment of dedicated personnel such as Aspirational District Fellows or Technical Support Units across all the districts or to collaborate with development partners for providing technical expertise, skills training, etc.’.

The report also appreciated the delta rankings provided on the programme’s Champions of Change dashboard. The competitive and dynamic culture fostered by it has successfully pushed several low performing districts (as per baseline rankings) to improve their standing in the past three years. Simdega (Jharkhand), Chandauli (Uttar Pradesh), Sonbhadra (Uttar Pradesh) and Rajgarh (Madhya Pradesh) were found to have progressed the most since the beginning of the programme.

The report recommends several initiatives undertaken under the programme as best practices. Noteworthy among them is GoalMart, an e-commerce portal launched by Assam’s Goalpara district administration ‘to promote rural, ethnic and agrarian products of the district in the national and global markets’. The initiative has been particularly helpful during the Covid-19 lockdown as it released farmers and retailers from the clutches of brick-and-mortar shops. Goalpara’s black rice is a favorite on this portal—and it has also proven to be highly profitable to the farmers. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli district decided to experiment with the cultivation of black rice, due to its high demand in global markets and good profit margins. The project was a success and high-quality black rice is now being exported to Australia and New Zealand.

As regards challenges and suggestions, the report said some stakeholders highlighted the need to revise a few indicators that are close to being saturated or met by most districts, such as ‘electrification of households’ as an indicator of basic infrastructure. It was also found that while on average, the districts have seen an increase in resilience and decrease in vulnerabilities, the least-improved districts have witnessed an increase in vulnerabilities, which requires a special focus on the sectors in which these districts have underperformed.

The report said ADP is ‘aligned to the principle of “leave no one behind”—the vital core of the SDGs. Political commitment at the highest level has resulted in rapid success of the programme’.

Overall, the report has appreciated the positive impact of the programme and stressed on the need to ensure ‘the focus on development is encouraged further, and momentum gained so far in expediting growth is maintained. Based on the findings of the evaluation, it is recommended that the success of the programme be scaled up and replicated for other sectors and districts’.

The Aspirational Districts Programme was launched by the Prime Minister in January 2018 as a part of the government’s effort to raise the living standards of its citizens and ensure inclusive growth for all, ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’.

8-Jul-2019: DoNER Secretary chairs meeting of Nodal officers of Aspirational districts of North Eastern region

The Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr Inder Jit Singh chaired a meeting with the Chief Nodal officers /Nodal officers of Aspirational districts of North Eastern region. The Secretary reviewed the status of implementation of various programmes in different sectors in these districts.

During the meeting, the Nodal Officers of the following Aspirational Districts gave presentations: Barpeta , Baksa, Darang, Dubri, Goalpara, Hailkandi & Udalguri (Assam); Namsai (Arunachal Pradesh), Chandel (Manipur); Ribhoi (Meghalaya);Mamit (Mizoram); Kiphire (Nagaland); West Sikkim (Sikkim) and Dhalai (Tripura). Their presentations were based on five themes of Aspirational District programme i.e. Health, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion, Skill development and Basic infrastructure.

In the meeting, it has been decided to identify the common issues, challenges and thrust areas of all the Aspirational districts with reference to the presentations made by the Nodal Officers and references of the data of NITI Aayog. The Ministry will take follow-up action based on the inputs received from the Nodal Officers of Aspirational districts.

Dr Inder Jit Singh instructed the concerned officers to monitor the progress of these districts on a regular basis on different parameters so that these districts improve their performance. The Secretary directed them to coordinate with the Line Ministries, State Governments and Districts Administration to intensify their efforts for development of Aspirational Districts.

27-Dec-2018: NITI Aayog Releases Second Delta Ranking of the Aspirational Districts

The NITI Aayog today released the Second Delta ranking for the Aspirational Districts which measures the incremental progress made by them between June 1, 2018 and October 31, 2018, across six developmental areas of Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion, Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure.

The ranking factors in validated data from Household Surveys conducted by NITI Aayog’s knowledge partners, namely, TATA Trusts and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (IDInsight). The Surveys were carried out in all Aspirational Districts during the month of June 2018 covering more than 1,00,000 households. These surveys were used to validate critical data-points and provide inputs for nine further data-points for which district-level data is not readily available at regular intervals.

Releasing the Second Delta Ranking, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, “We have constantly endeavoured to ensure transparent, real-time measurement of qualitative development in Aspirational Districts through the use of third-party validated data. This will strengthen the spirit of competitive and cooperative federalism on the foundations of evidence-based policy making.”

The delta ranking is computed in a transparent manner for combined improvements made during June and October 2018.

In the overall ranking, the most improved districts are as follows:

The Second Delta ranking also details the following districts as Least Improved over the period of June – October 2018: 

The districts which have shown great initiative and displayed a qualitative jump in their scores between June and October 2018, have been dubbed as ‘Fast Movers’:  

The delta ranking of the Aspirational Districts combines the innovative use of data science with pragmatic administration, keeping the district at the locus of inclusive development. This positioning is expected to aid the District Magistrates/Collectors to focus more on these sectors and improve their ranking in future.

About ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme: Launched by the Prime Minister in January this year, the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme aims to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts of the country.

The broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts driven by a Mass Movement or a Jan Andolan. With States as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.

The Government is committed to raising the living standards of its citizens and ensuring inclusive growth for all – Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.

To enable optimum utilization of their potential, this program focuses closely on improving people’s ability to participate fully in the burgeoning economy. Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure are this programme’s core areas of focus.

After several rounds of consultations with various stakeholders, 49 key performance indicators have been chosen to measure progress of the districts. Districts are prodded and encouraged to first catch-up with the best district within their state, and subsequently aspire to become one of the best in the country, by competing with, and learning from others in the spirit of competitive & cooperative federalism.

20-Sep-2018: Ministry Of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Officials to Visit Aspirational Districts

In a bid to understand and address the challenges faced by the district administrations in implementing skill programs and help develop capacities, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan has approved a plan for visits of the senior officers of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurships to the ‘Aspirational Districts’ between October 2, 2018 and January 26, 2019.

Government of India has launched the Aspirational Districts Program to effectively transform the identified districts through convergence of Central and State schemes; collaborations among officers and creating competition among districts. This program lays emphasis on district to bring about overall improvement in the living standard of the citizens and ensuring ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.’ One of the key focus areas of this program is skill development.

The visit of officers of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurships will begin with a meeting with Districts Collector / CEO-Zila Parishad and other State level officers implementing the programs. The team will also have interactions with Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras, training providers, ITIs, Polytechnics and JSS administrations. The team would also have conversation with students and industry present in these districts. This will enable a stock taking of the available skill ecosystem vis-à-vis the available data and provide good understanding of challenges to be addressed at the district level to make youth employable. A detailed reporting format has been prepared which would be utilized by the visiting team.

6-Jul-2018: Govt. deploys 800 central government officers for village outreach

A battalion of Central government officers has been drafted to ensure on the ground implementation as the Centre races to saturate 117 “aspirational districts” with seven flagship social welfare schemes by Independence Day.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to meet 2.5 lakh beneficiaries of these schemes in Jaipur on Saturday, and has pointed to this campaign as a model for future implementation of welfare delivery.

At least 800 Deputy Secretaries, Under-Secretaries and Director-level officers, drawn from Ministries as diverse as Defence and Urban Affairs, have been assigned about 75 villages to visit, as part of the Extended Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (EGSA) from June 1 to August 15. In total, 49,178 villages — most with a majority SC/ST population — are being targeted.

29-Jun-2018: NITI Aayog releases First Delta Ranking of Aspirational Districts

The NITI Aayog launched the first Delta ranking (incremental progress) for the Aspirational Districts, based on self-reported data of districts between March 31, 2018 to May 31, 2018, across five developmental areas of Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure.

Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, highlighted the keen interest displayed by the districts to provide real-time data points by filling up the Champions of Change Dashboard.

"The purpose of this ranking is to spur a sense of competition among the dynamic teams in the districts. Since these districts face many challenges including legacy, unexploited or weak resource base, deficit of manpower at different levels due to difficult living conditions etc., the ranking is also a tool to identify sectors and indicator specific challenges so that Team India, which is driving this programme, can take immediate corrective measures”, said Shri Amitabh Kant, releasing the first delta ranking of the Aspirational Districts.

The Districts started entering data from 1st April, 2018 in the Champions of Change Dashboard and 108 districts out of total 112, participated in this ranking. Data entry by remaining four districts is also in progress, though they are not part of this ranking.

The delta ranking is computed in a transparent manner for combined improvements made during April and May 2018.

Some of the data points have been sourced from Central Ministries viz. Financial Inclusion, Skill Development and 3 indicators of Basic Infrastructure - Household Electricity Connections, Household Toilets and Rural Drinking Water. Most of the data points, however, have been self-reported by the various districts themselves.

Asifabad district of Telangana, which was ranked 100 in Baseline ranking released in March this year, has made significant improvements in past two months and stood at 15 in Delta ranking. Dahod district of Gujarat improved 19.8 points to rank first in the Delta ranking (was Ranked 17 in Baseline ranking).

West Sikkim district in Sikkim stood second with 18.9 points, a huge improvement from being in the 30th position in Baseline ranking. Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh also made significant strides by improving 14.7 points and ranked 6th position in Delta ranking from 45th position in Baseline ranking

This Delta ranking takes a step further and looks into specific aspects of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and analyses how districts have performed in last two months across important sectors. This grouping and positioning would aid the District Magistrates/Collectors to focus more on these sectors and improve their ranking in future.

The knowledge partners of NITI Aayog – Tata Trusts, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (ID Insights) - are expected to provide data on 13 survey indicators and have validated values for 29 data-points. The next ranking will take into account these inputs and will be released soon thereafter.

About ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme

Launched by the Hon’ble PM in January this year, the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme aims to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts of the country.

The broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts driven by a Mass Movement or a Jan Andolan. With States as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.

The Government is committed to raising the living standards of its citizens and ensuring inclusive growth for all – Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.

To enable optimum utilization of their potential, this program focuses closely on improving people’s ability to participate fully in the burgeoning economy. Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure are this programme’s core areas of focus.

After several rounds of consultations with various stakeholders, 49 key performance indicators have been chosen to measure progress of the districts. Districts are prodded and encouraged to first catch-up with the best district within their state, and subsequently aspire to become one of the best in the country, by competing with, and learning from others in the spirit of competitive & cooperative federalism.

27-May-2018: Tata Trusts signs MoU with Govt. to support Aspirational districts programme

The Tata Trusts has joined hands with the government to help it in development initiatives in eight worst Naxal-affected districts in Chhattisgarh, which were covered under the "transformation of aspirational" districts programme.

They will provide technical and human resource assistance for the government to the special development programme launched by the NITI Aayog. Tata Trusts will help the government in conducting surveys and providing ground level and technical support in raising the living standards of citizens and ensuring inclusive growth for all.

The eight worst Naxal-hit districts, which were chosen for the programme and would be helped by the Tata Trusts are Rajnandgaon, Kanker, Bastar, Bijapur, Kondagaon, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Sukma. Two more districts of Chhattisgarh are also part of the programme and one of them is partially affected by the Maoists menace.

The Tata Trusts own two-third of the stock holding of Tata Sons, the apex company of the 100 billion dollars salt-to-software conglomerate.

The Memorandum of Understanding with the Tata Trusts will facilitate placing of development fellows at district and state levels to assist district collectors and district administrations in extracting optimum benefits. In addition, Special Central Assistance Scheme -- Rs 33 crore per district per annum -- has been approved by the home ministry for filling critical gaps in public infrastructure and for services of emergent nature.

Resources are also available in the form of District Mineral Funds and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

Use of a large number of women in self-help groups for taking lead in development and diversification of forest based livelihood activities have also been encouraged.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January, the 'Transformation of Aspirational Districts' programme aims to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts of the country. Over 100 districts from across the country were chosen to implement the ambitious programme.

The programme focusses closely on improving people's ability to participate fully in the burgeoning economy. Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development and basic infrastructure are the programme's core areas of focus.

It envisages the rapid development of the selected districts on the basis of a composite index based on health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development and basis infrastructure. The focus is to bring these indicators in the selected districts at par with the better performing districts in the country.