Lok Sabha Question No. 935 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-08
Subject: Aspirational Districts of Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Kuruva Gorantla Madhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 935

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2023

## ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS OF ANDHRA PRADESH

## 935.   SHRI KURUVA GORANTLA MADHAV:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) the status of progress in focused areas in the identified districts of Andhra Pradesh for the last three years;
- (b) the details of methodology followed in Delta Ranking of Aspirational districts;
- (c) whether the Government is considering addition of more districts under the scheme from the State of Andhra Pradesh and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the measures being taken by the Government to ensure development of Aspirational districts?

## 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 Aspirational Districts Programme monitors the progress of Aspirational Districts on 49 Key Performance Indicators across sectors, critical for improving quality of life or economic productivity  of  citizens  viz.,  health,  nutrition,  school  education,  agriculture  and  water resource management, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure.

Details of district-wise performance (overall) since inception for the aspirational districts of the State of Andhra Pradesh are attached as Annexure .

The same is also available on the Champions of Change Portal (http://championsofchange.gov.in/site/coc-home/), which is in the public domain.

- (b) Every month, districts register their progress in the key performance indicators of the sectors mentioned in (a) above and are ranked on the basis of performance. The ranking is based on real progress in these key performance indicators in a month. This system therefore allows even  the  most  underdeveloped  district  to  secure  a  good  rank  in  case  they  improve  their

performance  in  a  month's  time.  Similarly,  the  best  performing  district(s)  on  the  basis  of monthly progress are also captured in different sectors - health & nutrition, school education, agriculture & water resources, financial inclusion & skill development and basic infrastructure - and are identified every month and their good performance is recognised and encouraged.

Details of monthly rankings are available on the Champions of Change Portal (http://championsofchange.gov.in/site/coc-home/), which is in the public domain.

- (c) No Sir. There is no consideration of adding more districts under the scheme from the State of Andhra Pradesh, at present.
- (d) The Aspirational Districts Programme provides a monitoring framework to assist the district administration to assess the progress made and identify gaps remaining. This is also meant to assist the district in planning and execution of all its works, particularly in the focus areas of the programme. The programme focuses on 49 indicators across sectors of health, nutrition, school  education,  agriculture  and  water  resource  management,  financial  inclusion,  skill development  and  basic  infrastructure.  Every  month,  districts  register  their  progress  in  key performance  indicators  of  these  sectors  and  are  ranked  on  the  basis  of  performance,  and allocated a nominal performance grant. Based on the performance grant as mentioned above, districts  undertake  specific  projects  to  address  critical  needs  felt  by  them.  This  robust monitoring and ranking of the districts instils them with a sense of competition which results in rapid improvement.

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). 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.

In addition, the Programme records the performance of all the districts on the Champions of Change  Portal  (http://championsofchange.gov.in/site/coc-home/)  which  is  in  the  public domain. Placing the web portal in public domain assists the district administration and the States concerned to monitor the progress made under this programme.

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## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  935  FOR  08.02.2023  BY  SHRI  KURUVA  GORANTLA  MADHAV: REGARDING ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS OF ANDHRA PRADESH

## Status of Progress of Aspirational Districts of Andhra Pradesh since inception

|   S.No. | % Improvement Since Inception             |   Alluri Sitaramaraju* |   Parvathipuram Manyam* |   Y.S.R (Kadapa) |
|---------|-------------------------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------|------------------|
|       1 | Overall                                   |                  17.44 |                   20.8  |            18.4  |
|       2 | Health& Nutrition                         |                  15.17 |                   12.64 |             7.24 |
|       3 | Education                                 |                  30.1  |                   27.95 |            25.48 |
|       4 | Agriculture& Water Resources              |                  11.8  |                   19.93 |            23.08 |
|       5 | Financial Inclusion and Skill Development |                  24.35 |                   24.01 |            11.81 |
|       6 | Basic Infrastructure                      |                  16.99 |                   17.26 |            18.17 |

* Alluri Sitaramaraju District was carved out of erstwhile Aspirational District of Visakhapatnam and Parvathipuram Manyam District was carved out of erstwhile Aspirational District of Vizianagaram on 25th January 2022. Alluri Sitaramaraju District and Parvathipuram Manyam District are now part of the Aspirational Districts Programme. As they  have  been  onboarded  recently,  the  %  improvement  shown  here  is  for  erstwhile Aspirational  Districts  of  Visakhapatnam  and  Vizianagaram  as  of  October  2022.  The information for District Y.S.R. is as of November 2022.