{"id":112329,"date":"2021-06-14T19:05:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T13:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=112329"},"modified":"2021-06-14T23:11:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T17:41:48","slug":"aspirational-district-programme-achievements-and-suggestions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/aspirational-district-programme-achievements-and-suggestions\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspirational District Programme &#8211; Achievements and Suggestions &#8211; Explained, Pointwise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5><b>Introduction<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) India has released a report titled \u2018Aspirational Districts Programme: An Appraisal\u2019. The report calls the program a <strong>global example of leveraging local structures<\/strong> of governance and bureaucracy. It applauds the multi-stakeholder partnership for ensuring localization of the Sustainable Development Goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UNDP marks the Aspirational Districts Program as a model replicable program not just within India, but also on a global scale. However, it also calls for broadening its scope and laying greater emphasis on the qualitative aspect of the program. Hence, the government should take proactive steps for ensuring regionally balanced, inclusive, and sustainable growth.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>About the Aspirational Districts Programme<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was launched in 2018 to improve the socio-economic status of 112 aspirational districts across 28 states.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The selected districts were witnessing the least progress on certain development parameters, such as health and nutrition; education; agriculture, and water resources, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These districts account for more than 20% of the country\u2019s population and cover over 8,600 gram panchayats.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is coordinated by Niti Aayog with support from Central Ministries and the State Governments.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>three core principles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the programme are:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Convergence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Central &amp; State Schemes, which brings together the horizontal and vertical tiers of the government.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Collaboration<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> among citizens and functionaries of Central &amp; State Governments, including district teams. This will enable impactful partnerships between government, market, and civil society.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Competition<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> among districts driven by a spirit of the mass movement.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each district is ranked based on 49 performance indicators identified across the <\/span><b>5 core themes.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This includes\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Health &amp; Nutrition (30% weightage)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Education (30% weightage)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agriculture &amp; Water Resources (20% weightage)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Financial Inclusion &amp; Skill Development (10%)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Basic Infrastructure (10%)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The delta ranking of the Aspirational Districts combines the innovative use of data with pragmatic administration.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The programme ranks districts based on<\/span><b> the improvement achieved month-on-month<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through the Champions of Change dashboard (An online Dashboard).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The success of the program lies in its robust institutional framework and core strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Institutional framework and core strategy<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Framework:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NITI Aayog anchors the program at the central level while individual ministries have been responsible to drive progress in districts<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">States are the main drivers of the program<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For each district, a central Prabhari officer has been nominated. He\/she should possess the rank of joint secretary\/additional secretary.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Core Strategy <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the programme:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Work on the strength of each district.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make development a mass movement in these districts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify low-hanging fruits and the strength of each district which can act as a catalyst for development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Measure progress and rank districts to spur a sense of competition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Districts shall aspire from becoming State\u2019s best to Nation\u2019s best.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Why was it praised by the UNDP?<\/b><\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>First<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the program can <\/span><b>illuminate the path towards the attainment of sustainable development goals.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DM5agxDJ4qI&amp;list=PLVOgwA_DiGzoqQsGjmamTu6f453RWpm_I&amp;index=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">very successful model of local area development<\/a> and aligned to <\/span><b>the principle of \u201cleave no one behind<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d \u2013 the vital core of the SDGs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Second<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, real-time monitoring on the \u2018Champions of Change\u2019 dashboard and a monthly ranking of the best-performing districts adds a<\/span><b> competitive zeal to the programme<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This motivates the districts to push themselves to outperform others.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Third<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, some aspirational districts have performed better than non- aspirational districts in many domains. This shows its efficacy in <\/span><b>ensuring balanced regional development<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Fourth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the program received <\/span><b>a high degree of political support<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as it was envisioned by the PM itself. This resulted in more growth and development in the aspirational districts over the last three years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Fifth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the program managed to <\/span><b>deliver optimum results even in security-sensitive <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LWE (left-wing extremism) affected districts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Sixth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the program <\/span><b>encourages collaboration and coordination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> among the government, civil society, and private sector. This led to the adoption of a multi-stakeholder approach in planning and implementing the projects, which delivered better results.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h5><b>Achievements of Aspirational Districts Programme<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Health and Nutrition:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Model anganwadi centres have been set up across districts to benefit women and children. The number of institutional deliveries has increased, along with a dip registered in the rate of severe acute malnutrition in infants.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Poshan App has been developed for an aspirational district in Ranchi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It is a real-time data analytics digital platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It monitors bed occupancy, child-growth charts, and the inventory of every malnourishment treatment center in the district<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Education outcomes:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Innovation and digitisation have been the cornerstone of transformation in the education sector. The <\/span><b>\u2018Hamara Vidhyalaya\u2019 model adopted in Namsai, a remote district in Arunachal Pradesh,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> registered substantial improvement in learning outcomes and overall teaching practices.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under this model, a school prabhari is appointed for each school in the district to ensure monitoring, assessment, and guidance. The model makes use of an online platform called \u2018Yathasarvam\u2019 for improving the outcomes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Agriculture and water resources: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">District administrations have laid tremendous emphasis on improving irrigation facilities and yield, as well as farmer education. Several innovative paths have been adopted to create market linkages for products indigenous to the aspirational districts.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>farmers of Chandauli, U.P<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> were encouraged to grow fertiliser-free <\/span><b>organic black rice.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The experiment was remarkably successful, with Chandauli adding to the thriving global market of black rice and exporting to even countries like Australia and New Zealand.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Basic Infrastructure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: This pillar witnessed significant advancement, especially in LWE affected districts. This ensured better connectivity and seamless movement from rural to urban regions.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Bijapur in Chhattisgarh and Malkangiri in Odisha<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have greatly improved the network of roadways and ramped up the infrastructure projects in their jurisdiction.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Financial inclusion and skill development<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><b>Micro-ATMs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have been launched in Maharashtra&#8217;s Gadchiroli district to provide financial assistance to women self-help group members. They are provided with commission-based income on every transaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Issues associated with the <\/b><b>Aspirational Districts Programme<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Inadequate Coverage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Although the program is highly inclusive in nature, it fails to capture crucial variables like environment and gender.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Imbalance in implementation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Most districts channelized their efforts focused on health and nutrition, education, and agriculture, and water resources. They paid less emphasis on the sectors of Skill Development and Financial Inclusion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Budgetary Constraints<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: ADP is affected by the issue pertaining to insufficient budgetary resources. This sustains the lack of human resources and the dearth of technical capacities at the district and block levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Coordination Issue:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Niti Aayog plays a mentoring role in 27 districts in eight states. Twelve central government ministries have similarly adopted the remaining districts. Implementation involving multiple ministries leads to a lack of coordination.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Shortcomings of Delta Ranking<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: It is largely focused on assessing quantity (that is, coverage of access) rather than quality. For instance, timely delivery of textbooks in schools is part of the ranking index however very little weightage is given to the quality of education rendered in these districts.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Suggestions to improve the <\/b><b>Aspirational Districts Programme<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first UNDP appraisal of the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) has recommended a realignment of sectors under the program. It calls for the addition of topics such as environment and gender.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The weightage of Skill Development and Financial Inclusion sectors must be enhanced so that states give greater focus over them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government must give greater funding to the districts, especially the LWE districts, which are plagued with the double burden of countering LWE activities and ensuring development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The center and states must work in the spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism in order to improve the lives of the most vulnerable citizens.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further, the bottom-ranked districts should learn from the success model of the top-ranked districts.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The success of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-niti-aayogs-aspirational-districts-programme-is-a-laboratory-for-governance-reform-4th-november-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Aspirational Districts Programme <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has been testified by national as well as international agencies. It is a flagship initiative for improving the lives of citizens residing in the most backward regions of the country. The need of the hour demands overcoming its challenges and realizing the vision of<\/span><b> \u2018SABKA SATH, SABKA VIKAS\u2019<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for ensuring inclusive development.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) India has released a report titled \u2018Aspirational Districts Programme: An Appraisal\u2019. The report calls the program a global example of leveraging local structures of governance and bureaucracy. It applauds the multi-stakeholder partnership for ensuring localization of the Sustainable Development Goals.\u00a0 UNDP marks the Aspirational Districts Program as a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/aspirational-district-programme-achievements-and-suggestions\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Aspirational District Programme &#8211; Achievements and Suggestions &#8211; Explained, Pointwise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,8038,9,959],"tags":[1399],"class_list":["post-112329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-daily-editorials","category-public","category-schemes","tag-soc_7","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":4,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1698419249},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}