Lok Sabha Question No. 560 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Selection of Aspirational Districts
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Dhal Singh Bisen

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 560 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## SELECTION OF ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS

## †560.   DR DHAL SINGH BISEN:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of criteria set for the selection of aspirational districts;
- (b) the total number and names of aspirational districts declared in the country, districts/State-wise;
- (c) the  reasons  for  non-inclusion  of  Seoni  and  Balaghat  districts  of    Madhya  Pradesh  in  the  said aspirational districts which are backward in every parameter of development; and
- (d) whether there is any plan to include Balaghat and Seoni districts in the list of aspirational districts in future?

## 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 launched on 5th January 2018 by the Government of India and anchored by NITI Aayog, 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.  These were selected through a transparent process on basis of published data. List  of  data  sets  and  the  weight  attached  to  them  for  selection  of  these  districts  is  attached  in Annexure - I.
- (b) List of 112 Aspirational Districts is provided in Annexure-II.
- (c) As mentioned in (a), aspirational districts were selected through a transparent process on the basis of published data. As per this method, the districts which were selected as Aspirational Districts had overall lesser progress than Seoni and Balaghat districts in 2018 and as such, they have not been included.
- (d) As of now, there is no proposal/ provision to include more districts under the Aspirational Districts Programme.

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Annexure - I

## 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%     |

## State-wise list of all 112 Aspirational Districts

|   S. No. | State                | District      |
|----------|----------------------|---------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh       | Vizianagaram  |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh       | Visakhapatnam |
|        3 | Andhra Pradesh       | Y.S.R. Kadapa |
|        4 | Arunachal Pradesh    | Namsai        |
|        5 | Assam                | Goalpara      |
|        6 | Assam                | Barpeta       |
|        7 | Assam                | Hailakandi    |
|        8 | Assam                | Baksa         |
|        9 | Assam                | Darrang       |
|       10 | Assam                | Udalguri      |
|       11 | Assam                | Dhubri        |
|       12 | Bihar                | Sitamarhi     |
|       13 | Bihar                | Araria        |
|       14 | Bihar                | Purnia        |
|       15 | Bihar                | Katihar       |
|       16 | Bihar                | Muzaffarpur   |
|       17 | Bihar                | Begusarai     |
|       18 | Bihar                | Khagaria      |
|       19 | Bihar                | Banka         |
|       20 | Bihar                | Sheikhpura    |
|       21 | Bihar                | Aurangabad    |
|       22 | Bihar                | Gaya          |
|       23 | Bihar                | Nawada        |
|       24 | Bihar                | Jamui         |
|       25 | Chhattisgarh         | Korba         |
|       26 | Chhattisgarh         | Rajnandgaon   |
|       27 | Chhattisgarh         | Mahasamund    |
|       28 | Chhattisgarh         | Kanker        |
|       29 | Chhattisgarh         | Narayanpur    |
|       30 | Chhattisgarh         | Dantewada     |
|       31 | Chhattisgarh         | Bijapur       |
|       32 | Chhattisgarh         | Bastar        |
|       33 | Chhattisgarh         | Kondagaon     |
|       34 | Chhattisgarh         | Sukma         |
|       35 | Gujarat              | Dahod         |
|       36 | Gujarat              | Narmada       |
|       37 | Haryana              | Mewat         |
|       38 | Himachal Pradesh     | Chamba        |
|       39 | UT of Jammu &Kashmir | Kupwara       |
|       40 | UT of Jammu &Kashmir | Baramulla     |
|       41 | Jharkhand            | Garhwa        |
|       42 | Jharkhand            | Chatra        |
|       43 | Jharkhand            | Giridih       |

|   S. No. | State          | District            |
|----------|----------------|---------------------|
|       44 | Jharkhand      | Godda               |
|       45 | Jharkhand      | Sahibganj           |
|       46 | Jharkhand      | Pakur               |
|       47 | Jharkhand      | Bokaro              |
|       48 | Jharkhand      | Lohardaga           |
|       49 | Jharkhand      | Purbi Singhbhum     |
|       50 | Jharkhand      | Palamu              |
|       51 | Jharkhand      | Latehar             |
|       52 | Jharkhand      | Hazaribagh          |
|       53 | Jharkhand      | Ramgarh             |
|       54 | Jharkhand      | Dumka               |
|       55 | Jharkhand      | Ranchi              |
|       56 | Jharkhand      | Khunti              |
|       57 | Jharkhand      | Gumla               |
|       58 | Jharkhand      | Simdega             |
|       59 | Jharkhand      | Pashchimi Singhbhum |
|       60 | Karnataka      | Raichur             |
|       61 | Karnataka      | Yadgir              |
|       62 | Kerala         | Wayanad             |
|       63 | Madhya Pradesh | Chhatarpur          |
|       64 | Madhya Pradesh | Damoh               |
|       65 | Madhya Pradesh | Barwani             |
|       66 | Madhya Pradesh | Rajgarh             |
|       67 | Madhya Pradesh | Vidisha             |
|       68 | Madhya Pradesh | Guna                |
|       69 | Madhya Pradesh | Singrauli           |
|       70 | Madhya Pradesh | Khandwa             |
|       71 | Maharashtra    | Nandurbar           |
|       72 | Maharashtra    | Washim              |
|       73 | Maharashtra    | Gadchiroli          |
|       74 | Maharashtra    | Osmanabad           |
|       75 | Manipur        | Chandel             |
|       76 | Meghalaya      | Ribhoi              |
|       77 | Mizoram        | Mamit               |
|       78 | Nagaland       | Kiphire             |
|       79 | Odisha         | Dhenkanal           |
|       80 | Odisha         | Gajapati            |
|       81 | Odisha         | Kandhamal           |
|       82 | Odisha         | Balangir            |
|       83 | Odisha         | Kalahandi           |
|       84 | Odisha         | Rayagada            |
|       85 | Odisha         | Koraput             |
|       86 | Odisha         | Malkangiri          |
|       87 | Odisha         | Nabarangpur         |
|       88 | Odisha         | Nuapada             |
|       89 | Punjab         | Moga                |

|   S. No. | State         | District             |
|----------|---------------|----------------------|
|       90 | Punjab        | Firozpur             |
|       91 | Rajasthan     | Dholpur              |
|       92 | Rajasthan     | Karauli              |
|       93 | Rajasthan     | Jaisalmer            |
|       94 | Rajasthan     | Sirohi               |
|       95 | Rajasthan     | Baran                |
|       96 | Sikkim        | West Sikkim          |
|       97 | Tamil Nadu    | Virudhunagar         |
|       98 | Tamil Nadu    | Ramanathapuram       |
|       99 | Telangana     | Asifabad             |
|      100 | Telangana     | Bhoopalapally        |
|      101 | Telangana     | Bhadradri-Kothagudem |
|      102 | Tripura       | Dhalai               |
|      103 | Uttar Pradesh | Chitrakoot           |
|      104 | Uttar Pradesh | Fatehpur             |
|      105 | Uttar Pradesh | Bahraich             |
|      106 | Uttar Pradesh | Shrawasti            |
|      107 | Uttar Pradesh | Balrampur            |
|      108 | Uttar Pradesh | Siddharthnagar       |
|      109 | Uttar Pradesh | Chandauli            |
|      110 | Uttar Pradesh | Sonbhadra            |
|      111 | Uttarakhand   | Udham Singh Nagar    |
|      112 | Uttarakhand   | Haridwar             |

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