Lok Sabha Question No. 2416 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Backward Districts in UP
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: KANWAR SINGH TANWAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2416 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.12.2018

## BACKWARD DISTRICTS IN UP

## 2416. SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

Will the Minister of Planning be pleased to state:

- (a) The names of districts of Uttar Pradesh declared as backward/aspirational districts;
- (b) Whether the Government proposes to include more districts in the said list and if so, the details thereof; And
- (c)    The steps taken to remove the backwardness of these districts and the extent to which the success has been achieved?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS

## (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a) NITI Aayog has not declared any district as backward district. However, there are eight districts of Uttar Pradesh which have shown relatively slow progress in improvement in social sectors and have been identified  as  'aspirational  districts'.  These  districts  are:  Bahraich,  Balrampur,  Chandauli,  Chitrakoot, Fatehpur,  Shrawasti,  Siddharthnagar  and  Sonbhadra.  Government  of  India  in  partnership  with  the  State Government has launched an initiative namely 'Aspirational District Programme' to rapidly transform these districts.
- (b) There is no such proposal to include more districts of UP at this stage under this programme.
- (c) The core strategy envisaged in this programme is to improve efficiency in the existing programmes of  the  Central  and  the  State  Governments  through  convergence.    Under  this  programme,  Central  Prabhari Officer in the rank of Joint Secretary/Additional Secretaries have been assigned at the Centre level to monitor the implementation  of  the programme.  They  are  to  assist the State governments  and  the  district administrations to improve their performance by acting as a bridge between the State Government, District and the  Government of  India.  49  Key  Performance  Indicators  having  81  data  points  have  been  identified across important sectors like Health, nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development and basic infrastructure  and districts have been requested to create district action plan to  bring  rapid  improvement  in  the  targets.  A  dynamic  dashboard  is  facilitating  the  district  to  ascertain  its position among the Aspirational Districts in India on the basis of incremental change. This in turn is expected to enthuse the District teams to become competitive and with the assistance of their own State government to improve  their  position.      In  addition,  key  Central  Ministries  have  prioritized  these  districts  in  their programme.

This has resulted in improving the focus of the district administration towards the activities which are critical for  improving  the  quality  of  life  of  people  in  these  districts  and  their  economic  productivity.  These innovative features of the programme have resulted in districts improving their performance in key sectors. District wise progress in selected performance indicators is available on NITI Aayog's web portal  http://championsofchange.gov.in/

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