Lok Sabha Question No. 1801 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-27
Subject: Low level of Development of Bihar
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Dinesh Chandra Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1801

TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.07.2022

## LOW LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT OF BIHAR

## †1801.   SHRI DINESH CHANDRA YADAV:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) the reasons for the development of Bihar being far behind the national average at various levels;
- (b) whether  the  Government  have  declared  almost  all  the  districts  of  Bihar  as  backward districts during the year 2015;
- (c) if so, the schemes which have been approved by the Government for the development of Bihar  after  the  said  declaration  along  with  the  district-wise  and  year-  wise  amount  of funds released so far in this regard;
- (d) whether any review meeting in this regard has taken place after the said declaration; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with the assessment of the said meeting?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS

## (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a) The  National  Multi-Dimensional  Poverty  Index  released  by  NITI  Aayog  in  November 2021 shows that Bihar has the highest proportion of multi-dimensionally poor people in any State in  India.  The  index  measured  multi-dimensional  poverty based on  household micro-data collected at the unit-level under the National Family Health Survey 4 of 201516.  The  data  reveals  that  at-least  on  12  indicators  across  three  dimensions  of  health, education and standard of living, i.e., Nutrition, Child and Adolescent Mortality, Maternal Health  (Health),  Years  of  Schooling,  School  Attendance  (Education),  Cooking  Fuel, Sanitation, Drinking Water, Housing, Electricity, Assets and Bank Account (Standard of living),  the  population  of Bihar  was far behind those of other States. Detailed report is available in the public domain (https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/202111/National\_MPI\_India-11242021.pdf). A graph showing the standing of various States and Union Territories on the index is provided in Annexure - I.

- (b) No  Sir.  NITI  Aayog  has  not  declared  any  district  of  Bihar  as  a  backward  district. However, under the ongoing Aspirational Districts Programme that was launched on 5 th January,  2018  by  the  Government  of  India  112  districts  having  relatively  slow  socioeconomic progress or severely affected by the Left Wing Extremism were identified in 2018. These were selected through a transparent process on the basis of published data. List  of  data  sets  and  the  weights  attached  to  them  for  selection  of  these  districts  is attached in Annexure - II .  Based  on  this  selection  process,  13  Districts  of  Bihar  were designated as Aspirational Districts. Their list is provided in Annexure-III .
- (c) Aspirational Districts Programme is an innovative arrangement that rests on the 3 Cs Convergence (between Central and State Schemes), Collaboration (between Centre, State, District  Administration, Development Partners and Citizens) and Competition (between Districts).  It  aims  at  rapid  transformation  of  these  districts  across  sectors  which  are critical for improving quality of life or economic productivity of citizens and these sectors are Health and Nutrition, School Education, Basic Infrastructure, Agriculture and Water Resources  and  Financial  Inclusion  &  Skill  Development.  As  the  main  strategy  of  the programme is based on convergence of existing schemes which have their own funding arrangement, infusion of additional fund is not envisaged. However, in order to foster a competitive  spirit,  additional  allocation  on  the  basis  of  performance  is  also  envisaged. Every  month,  districts  are  assessed  on  the  basis  of  monthly  progress  and  the  best performing Districts in overall terms and in each of the five sectors are identified. The first  and  second  rankers  in  overall  terms  are  awarded  ₹10  crores  and  ₹5  crores respectively. The first ranker from each of the five sectors is awarded ₹3 crores each.

Under this arrangement, the Aspirational Districts of Bihar have so far been sanctioned a total of approximately ₹150 crores. A district-wise list of the performance grant for which these districts are eligible is provided in Annexure-IV .

- (d) and (e) The broad strategy of the Aspirational Districts Programme includes nomination of  Joint  Secretary/Additional  Secretary  level  officials  from  Government  of  India  as Central Prabhari Officers for each of the district. The role of these Prabhari Officers is to review the performance of the Districts and guide the District Administration on basis of their  long  experience.  The  performance  of  all  Aspirational  Districts  in  Bihar  across sectors under focus is publicly available on the Champions of Change portal (www.championsofchange.gov.in).

## India: Head Count Ratio, National Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index, NITI Aayog

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## Annexure-II

## List of data sets and weights used for selection of Aspirational Districts

| DATABASES                                                                                    | SECTOR                  | WEIGHT   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|----------|
| Landless households dependent on Manual labour (Socio Economic Caste Census - Deprivation 7) | Deprivation (25%)       | 25%      |
| Ante natal care (National Health and Family Survey (NHFS) - 4)                               | Health& Nutrition (30%) | 7.5%     |
| Institutional delivery (NHFS-4)                                                              | Health& Nutrition (30%) | 7.5%     |
| Stunting of children below 5 years (NHFS-4)                                                  | Health& Nutrition (30%) | 7.5%     |
| Wasting in children below 5 years (NHFS-4)                                                   | Health& Nutrition (30%) | 7.5%     |
| Elementary dropout rate (Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE) 2015-16) | Education (15%)         | 7.5%     |
| Adverse pupil teacher ratio (U-DISE 2015-16)                                                 | Education (15%)         | 7.5%     |
| Un-electrified households (Ministry of Power)                                                | Infra (30%)             | 7.5%     |
| Households without individual toilets (Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation)            | Infra (30%)             | 7.5%     |
| Un-connected PMGSYvillage (Ministry of Rural Development)                                    | Infra (30%)             | 7.5%     |
| Rural Household without access to water (Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation)          | Infra (30%)             | 7.5%     |
| Total                                                                                        |                         | 100%     |

List of all Aspirational Districts in Bihar

|   S. No. | State   | District    |
|----------|---------|-------------|
|        1 | Bihar   | Sitamarhi   |
|        2 | Bihar   | Araria      |
|        3 | Bihar   | Purnia      |
|        4 | Bihar   | Katihar     |
|        5 | Bihar   | Muzaffarpur |
|        6 | Bihar   | Begusarai   |
|        7 | Bihar   | Khagaria    |
|        8 | Bihar   | Banka       |
|        9 | Bihar   | Sheikhpura  |
|       10 | Bihar   | Aurangabad  |
|       11 | Bihar   | Gaya        |
|       12 | Bihar   | Nawada      |
|       13 | Bihar   | Jamui       |

## District wise list of performance grant allocated to Aspirational Districts of Bihar

|   S. No. | District    |   Eligible Grant (in ₹ crores) based on performance inception of the Programme |
|----------|-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Araria      |                                                                              4 |
|        2 | Aurangabad  |                                                                             11 |
|        3 | Banka       |                                                                              9 |
|        4 | Begusarai   |                                                                             13 |
|        5 | Gaya        |                                                                              9 |
|        6 | Jamui       |                                                                             10 |
|        7 | Katihar     |                                                                             13 |
|        8 | Khagaria    |                                                                             23 |
|        9 | Muzaffarpur |                                                                             18 |
|       10 | Nawada      |                                                                             23 |
|       11 | Purnia      |                                                                              8 |
|       12 | Sheikhpura  |                                                                              3 |
|       13 | Sitamarhi   |                                                                              6 |

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