Lok Sabha Question No. 2958 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-15
Subject: Backward Districts
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Jyotsna Charandas Mahant, Balashowry Vallabbhaneni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2958 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.12.2021

## BACKWARD DISTRICTS

## †2958. SHRIMATI JYOTSNA CHARANDAS MAHANT: SHRI BALASHOWRY VALLABHANENI:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any plan has been formulated by the Government to bring backward districts at par with other developed districts of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the name and details of districts identified under the said category in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh;
- (c) the number of previously created and newly created districts of Chhattisgarh State for which efforts are being made to identify and develop;
- (d) the  details  of  performance  indicators  selected  to  develop  these  districts  and  the manner  in  which  these  indicators  are  being  implemented  in  the  above  identified districts in Andhra Pradesh;
- (e) the  provisions  relating  to  backward  districts  in  Andhra  Pradesh  Reorganisation  Act and the details of steps taken by the Government to fulfill provisions of the Act; and
- (f) the details of Budgetary  allocation/grants made  to various backward  districts identified during the last year and current year?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS & 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  Aspirational  Districts  Programme  was  launched  on  5th  January  2018  by  the Government  of  India  .  Anchored  by  NITI  Aayog,  it  aims  to  bring  transformative changes in the most under-developed districts of India called Aspirational Districts. There are 112 Aspirational Districts, across 26 States and 1 Union Territory, under the Aspirational Districts Programme. At the time of selection, these districts have shown relatively  less  progress  in  key  social  and  economic  indicators.  They  were  selected through a transparent process on the basis of published data. The programme aims at rapid transformation of these backward districts across sectors which are critical for improving  quality  of  life  or  economic  productivity  of  citizens.  These  sectors  are Health and Nutrition, School Education and Basic Infrastructure, and also Agriculture

and Water Resources and Financial Inclusion &  Skill Development.  49 key performance  indicators  have  been  selected  across  these  sectors  and  a  district's performance  is  monitored  on  the  basis  of  progress  made  on  these  indicators.  The broad  strategy of the Aspirational Districts Programme  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). Every month, districts are ranked on the basis of progress made on  the  key  performance  indicators  mentioned  above,  and  this  instills  them  with  a sense  of  competition  which  results  in  rapid  improvement.  Another  strategy  of  the programme is nomination of Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary level officials from Government of India as Central Prabhari Officers for each of the districts. The role of these Prabhari Officers is to guide the district administration on the basis of their long experience.

- (b) The list of Aspirational Districts in the States of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh is provided in Annexure I.
- (c) These Aspirational Districts were selected on the basis of their relatively less progress in key social and economic indicators on the basis of published data, applicable to all districts  regardless  of  when  they  were  created.  List  of  data  sets  and  the  weight attached to them for selection of these districts is attached in Annexure - II .
- (d) Details of the 49 Key Performance Indicators on which their performance is tracked on a monthly basis is attached in Annexure-III . Further details about the performance of  the  districts  on  these  indicators  is  available  on  the  Champions  of  Change Dashboard (http://championsofchange.gov.in/site/coc-home/).
- (e) The Union Government under sections 46(2), 46(3) and 94(2) of the Andhra Pradesh Re-Organization  Act  (APRA),  2014  has  released  an  amount  of  Rs.  1750  crore  for development  of  seven  backward  districts  (Ananthapuramu,  Chittoor,  YSR  Kadapa, Kurnool,  Srikakulam,  Vizianagaram,  Visakhapatnam)  to  the  Successor  State  of Andhra Pradesh in 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2019-20 and 2020-21.
- (f) Details  of  release  made  to  successor  states  for  development  of  backward  districts/ areas  post  bifurcation  by  the  Department  of  Expenditure,  Ministry  of  Finance  are provided in Annexure IV .

As the main strategy of the programme is based on convergence of existing schemes which have their own funding arrangement, large infusion of additional fund is not envisaged under the Aspirational Districts Programme. However, in order to foster a competitive  spirit,  and  for  addressing  the  critical  gaps,  additional  allocation  on challenge route 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.  As  per  the  scheme  guidelines,  districts  having  District Mineral Fund (DMF) in excess of Rs.30cr annually are not eligible for this assistance. Funds  allocated  to  the  Aspirational  Districts  of  Andhra  Pradesh  and  Chhattisgarh based on their performance as of December 2021, is placed at Annexure-V.

*****

## List of Aspirational Districts in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

|   S. No. | State          | District      |
|----------|----------------|---------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh | Vizianagaram  |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh | Visakhapatnam |
|        3 | Andhra Pradesh | Y.S.R. Kadapa |
|        4 | Chhattisgarh   | Korba         |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh   | Rajnandgaon   |
|        6 | Chhattisgarh   | Mahasamund    |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh   | Kanker        |
|        8 | Chhattisgarh   | Narayanpur    |
|        9 | Chhattisgarh   | Dantewada     |
|       10 | Chhattisgarh   | Bijapur       |
|       11 | Chhattisgarh   | Bastar        |
|       12 | Chhattisgarh   | Kondagaon     |
|       13 | Chhattisgarh   | Sukma         |

## 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 49 Key Performance Indicators

|   S. No. | Key Performance Indicators                                                                                                   |
|----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      1.1 | Percentage of Pregnant Women receiving four or more antenatal care check-ups against total ANC registration                  |
|      1.2 | Percentage of ANC registered within the first trimester against total ANC registration                                       |
|      1.3 | Percentage of pregnant women (PW) registered for ANC against estimated pregnancies                                           |
|      2   | Percentage of pregnant women taking Supplementary Nutrition under the ICDS programme regularly                               |
|      3.1 | Percentage of Pregnant having severe anaemia treated, against PW having severe anaemia tested cases.                         |
|      3.2 | Percentage of Pregnant Women tested for Haemoglobin (Hb) 4 or more times for respective ANCs, against total ANC registration |
|      4.1 | Sex Ratio at birth                                                                                                           |
|      4.2 | Percentage of institutional deliveries out of total estimated deliveries                                                     |
|      5   | Percentage of home deliveries attended by an SBA (Skilled Birth Attendance) out of total Home deliveries                     |
|      6.1 | Percentage of new-borns breastfed within one hour of birth                                                                   |
|      6.2 | Percentage of live born infants with a birth weight 2500 gms                                                                 |
|      6.3 | Proportion of live babies weighed at birth                                                                                   |
|      7   | Percentage of underweight children under 5 years                                                                             |
|      8.1 | Percentage of stunted children under 5 years                                                                                 |
|      8.2 | Percentage of children with Diarrhoea treated with ORS                                                                       |
|      8.3 | Percentage of children with Diarrhoea treated with Zinc                                                                      |
|      8.4 | Percentage of children with ARI in the last 2 weeks taken to a health facility                                               |
|      9.1 | Percentage of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)                                                                                |
|      9.2 | Percentage of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM)                                                                              |
|     10.1 | Breastfeeding children receiving adequate diet (6-23 months)                                                                 |
|     10.2 | Non-Breastfeeding children receiving adequate diet (6-23 months)                                                             |
|     11   | Percentage of children fully immunized (9-11 months) (BCG+ DPT3 + OPV3 + Measles1)                                           |
|     12.1 | Tuberculosis (TB) case notification rate (Public and Private Institutions) as against estimated cases                        |
|     12.2 | TB Treatment success rate among notified TB patients (public and private)                                                    |
|     13.1 | Establishment of Health &Wellness Centres (HWCs)                                                                             |

| 13.2   | Proportion of Primary Health Centers compliant to Indian Public Health Standards                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|--------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 13.3   | functional FRUs (First referral units) rate                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| 13.4   | Availability of specialist services in District hospitals against IPHS norms                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| 13.5   | Conduct of village health, Sanitation, Nutrition Days                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 13.6   | Proportion of Anganwadis with own buildings                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| 13.7   | Percentage of First referral units (FRU) having labour room and obstetrics OT NQAS certified (i.e., meet LaQShya guidelines)                                                                                                                                                      |
| 14.1   | Transition Rate (a) Primary to Upper Primary level                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| 14.2   | (b) Upper Primary to Secondary level                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| 15     | Toilet access: %schools with functional girls' toilets                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| 16     | Learning outcomes (Average in government schools) (a) Mathematics performance in Class 3 (b) Language performance in Class 3 (c) Mathematics performance in Class 5 (d)Language performance in Class 5 (e) Mathematics performance in Class 8 (f) Language performance in Class 8 |
| 17     | Female literacy rate (15+ Age group)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| 18     | Percentage of schools with functional drinking water facility                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| 19     | Percentage of schools with functional electricity facility at secondary level                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| 20     | Percentage of elementary schools complying with RTE specified Pupil Teacher Ratio                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 21     | Percentage of schools providing textbooks to children within 1 month of start of the academic session                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 22     | Water Positive investments and Employment                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| (a)    | Percentage of net sown area under micro-irrigation                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| (b)    | Number of water bodies rejuvenated under MGNREGA                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| 23     | Crop Insurance- Percentage of net sown area under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| 24     | Increase in Critical Inputs usage and supply                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| (a)    | 3 (a)Percentage increase in agricultural credit                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| (b)    | 3 (b) Certified quality seed distribution                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 25     | Number of mandi in the district linked to electronic market                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| 26     | A) Percentage change in Price Realization (Wheat) B) Percentage change in Price Realization (Paddy Common, Paddy Grade A)                                                                                                                                                         |
| 27     | Percentage share of high value crops to total sown area in district                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| 28     | Agricultural productivity of 2 major crops                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| 29     | Percentage of animals vaccinated                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |

|   30 | Artificial Insemination coverage                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   31 | Number of Soil Health Cards distributed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|   32 | Total Disbursement of Mudra loan (in rupees) per 1 Lakh population                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|   33 | Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY ): Number of Enrolments per 1 Lakh population                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|   34 | Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY): Number of Enrolments per 1 Lakh population                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|   35 | Atal Pension Yojana (APY): Number of Beneficiaries per 1 Lakh population                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|   36 | Percentage of bank accounts seeded with Aadhaar as a percentage of total banking accounts                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|   37 | Number of accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|   38 | No of youth certified in short term and long-term training # schemes / no of youth in district in age group 15-29*                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|   39 | No of certified youth employed # /No of youth trained under short term and long-term training                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|   40 | Number of Apprentices completing/Total number of trainees registered on the portal                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|   41 | No of people certified under Recognition of Prior Learning # / Non formally skilled workforce **                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|   42 | Number of Vulnerable/Marginalized youth certified trained under short term and long term training a) Women - certified trained, b) SC - certified trained c) ST - certified trained d) OBC - certified trained e) Minorities - certified trained f) Differently abled - certified trained) / Total Number of youth certified trained |
|   43 | Percentage of households with electricity connection                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|   44 | Percentage of Gram panchayats with internet connection                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|   45 | (a) Percentage of habitations with access to all weather roads under PMGSY (b) Cumulative number of kilometres of all-weather road work completed as a percentage of total sanctioned kilometres in the district under PMGSY                                                                                                         |
|   46 | Percentage of households with Individual Household Latrines                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|   47 | Percentage of Rural habitations with access to adequate quantity of potable water - 40 lpcd drinking water in rural                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|   48 | Coverage/ establishment of Common Service Centres at Gram Panchayat level                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|   49 | Number of pucca houses constructed for household who are shelter- less or having one room with kuchha wall and kuchha roof or having 2 room with kuchha wall and roof                                                                                                                                                                |

## Details of funds released to Successor States

|                                                                                        |                                                                                                       | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   | Central Assistance provided under Andhra Pradesh Re- Organisation Act, 2014   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Provisions of APRA, 2014                                                               | Items identified for providing 'Special Assistance'                                                   | Releases to the State of Andhra Pradesh (In Crore Rs)                         | Releases to the State of Andhra Pradesh (In Crore Rs)                         | Releases to the State of Andhra Pradesh (In Crore Rs)                         | Releases to the State of Andhra Pradesh (In Crore Rs)                         | Releases to the State of Andhra Pradesh (In Crore Rs)                         | Releases to the State of Andhra Pradesh (In Crore Rs)                         | Releases to the State of Andhra Pradesh (In Crore Rs)                         | Releases to the State of Andhra Pradesh (In Crore Rs)                         | Total                                                                         |
|                                                                                        |                                                                                                       | 2014- 15                                                                      | 2015- 16                                                                      | 2016- 17                                                                      | 2017- 18                                                                      | 2018- 19                                                                      | 2019- 20                                                                      | 2020- 21                                                                      | 2021- 22                                                                      | 2014- 22                                                                      |
| Sections 46(2) & (3) and Section 94(2): special development package for backward areas | Development Grant for 7 backward districts of the State covering Rayalaseema and North Coastal Region | 350                                                                           | 350                                                                           | 350                                                                           | -                                                                             | -                                                                             | 350                                                                           | 350                                                                           | -                                                                             | 1750                                                                          |
|                                                                                        |                                                                                                       | Releases to the State of Telangana                                            | Releases to the State of Telangana                                            | Releases to the State of Telangana                                            | Releases to the State of Telangana                                            | Releases to the State of Telangana                                            | Releases to the State of Telangana                                            | Releases to the State of Telangana                                            | Releases to the State of Telangana                                            | Total                                                                         |
| Section 94(2)                                                                          | Development Grant for 9 backward districts of State Telangana                                         | -                                                                             | 450                                                                           | 450                                                                           | 450                                                                           | 450                                                                           | -                                                                             | 450                                                                           | -                                                                             | 2250                                                                          |

Utilization certificates amounting to Rs. 1049.34 crore duly certified by NITI Aayog against the released amounts of Rs. 1750 crore to the State of Andhra Pradesh has been received with the  Department  of  Expenditure.  The  State  Government  of  Telangana  has  not  submitted utilization  certificates  against  the  last  installment  amounting  to  Rs.  450  crore  released  in 2020-21 to the State of Telangana.

## Details of Funds allocated to districts on the basis of performance

| Name of the District   |   Amount allocated on the basis of performance (₹ crore) |
|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| Bastar                 |                                                        6 |
| Bijapur                |                                                       16 |
| Kondagaon              |                                                       13 |
| Mahasamund             |                                                        6 |
| Narayanpur             |                                                        3 |
| Rajnandgaon            |                                                        4 |
| Sukma                  |                                                       13 |
| Vishakhapatnam         |                                                        3 |
| Vizianagaram           |                                                        5 |
| Y.S.R Kadapa           |                                                        5 |