Lok Sabha Question No. 4208 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Performance of Aspirational Districts in Assam
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Shri Gaurav Gogoi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4208

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## PERFORMANCE OF ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS IN ASSAM

## 4208.   SHRI GAURAV GOGOI:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  performance  of  Aspirational  Districts  in  Assam under  key  sectors  including  Health  &  Nutrition,  Education, Agriculture  &  Water  Resources,  Financial  Inclusion  &  Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure during the last five years, district-wise;
- (b) the details of criteria and methodology adopted for ranking and measuring incremental progress of these districts;
- (c) the details of funds allocated and released to the Aspirational Districts in Assam, year-wise including the nature of flexibility provided to the State Government and district administrations in utilisation of such funds;
- (d) the names of the best-performing and worst-performing Aspirational Districts in Assam during the last five years, the parameters on which they were so identified and the reasons for persistent underperformance; and
- (e) the corrective measures taken by the Government to address gaps in the lagging districts; and

- (f) whether  any  independent  evaluation  has  been  conducted  to assess  the  effectiveness  of  such  interventions  and  if  so,  the details thereof?

## 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 CULTURE

## (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a) The  Aspirational  Districts  Programme  (ADP)  has  developed  the Champions  of  Change  (CoC)  Dashboard  to  periodically  monitor  the performance  of  all  112  districts,  including  7  aspirational  districts  in Assam using composite scores based on 49 key performance indicators (KPIs)  under  5  broad  socio-economic  themes -health  &  nutrition, education, agriculture and water resource, financial inclusion & skill development  and  basic  infrastructure.  The  performance  of  all  112 districts under ADP, since inception, is available on the CoC dashboard (http://championsofchange.gov.in/site/coc-home/) which is publicly accessible.
- (b) Under ADP, each district is monitored on 49 KPIs, entailing 81 data points, across 5 sectors mentioned in (a) above. These sectors have different  weightages -Health  &  Nutrition  and  Education  have  been prioritized  with  30% weightage each. Agriculture  & Water Resources has  a  20%  weightage  while  the  remaining  two  sectors,  Financial Inclusion &  Skill Development  and  Basic  Infrastructure, have  a weightage of 10% each. Every quarter, districts register their progress on  the  CoC  dashboard  and  are  ranked  on  quarter-wise  incremental improvement  shown  by  the  d istrict  ('Delta  Ranking')  across these sectors.  The  quarter  wise  ranks  achieved  by  all  the  Aspirational

Districts, since inception, is also available on the Champions of Change portal (http://championsofchange.gov.in/site/coc-home/).

- (c) The details of funds sanctioned and released to the aspirational districts in Assam during the last five years is at Annexure I. In order to foster competitive spirit and for addressing the critical gaps, additional allocation via challenge route is also envisaged. Every quarter, districts are assessed on the basis of quarterly progress and the best performing districts in overall terms and in each of the five sectors are identified and their good performance is recognized and encouraged. 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. Based on the performance grant as mentioned above, it is  the  districts  which  undertake  specific  projects  to  address  critical needs felt by them.
- (d) & (e) Every quarter, districts are assessed on the basis of quarterly progress  and  ranking  is  being  done.  The  ranks  of  the  Aspirational Districts  in  Assam  during  the  last  five  years  is  at  Annexure  II.  As mentioned in (c) above, every quarter, districts register their progress in 49 KPIs of the sectors mentioned in (a) above and are ranked on the basis of performance. The ranking of districts is based on real progress made under these KPIs in a quarter. This enables the districts to focus on strategies to improve their performance in sectors which they rank lower.
- (f)  There have been two independent assessments of the functioning and impact of the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP)
- (i)  UNDP made a comprehensive appraisal of this programme
- (ii) Institute for Competitiveness Assessment (a team of expert led by Prof. Michael Porter of Harvard Business school) made a detailed assessment of the programme

The UNDP report titled 'Aspirational Districts Programme: An Appraisal,'  submitted  in  December  2020,  confirmed  that  significant progress has been made in various aspects such as sector-wise growth, better governance through convergence, and accelerated development through  competitive  federalism.  This  progress  has  been  driven  by factors  including  strong  leadership,  real-time  monitoring,  data-driven decision-making, and capacity building. Additionally, the Institute for Competitiveness highlighted that nearly all districts  in the ADP have shown improvement on key development parameters compared to the baseline, with the programme successfully advancing social impact and justice by targeting the benefits towards the most disadvantaged areas. The  delta  ranking  system  has  played  a  crucial  role  in  fostering  a competitive  and  dynamic  culture,  which  has  motivated  several  lowperforming  districts  to  enhance  their  standings  over  the  past  three years.

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## ANNEXURE - I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  of  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4208 FOR 18.03.2026 BY SHRI GAURAV GOGOI REGARDING PERFORMANCE OF ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS IN ASSAM

Details  of  funds  sanctioned  and  funds  released  to  the  Aspirational Districts in Assam during the last five years

| Financial Year   | District   |   Funds Sanctioned ( ₹ in crores) |   Funds Released ( ₹ in crores) |
|------------------|------------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| FY 2021-22       | Baksa      |                              7.01 |                            7.01 |
|                  | Barpeta    |                             10.01 |                           10.01 |
|                  | Darrang    |                              1.01 |                            1.01 |
|                  | Dhubri     |                              3.01 |                            3.01 |
|                  | Goalpara   |                              0.01 |                            0.01 |
|                  | Hailakandi |                             15.16 |                           14.96 |
|                  | Udalguri   |                             14.99 |                           14.99 |
| FY 2022-23       | Baksa      |                              7.25 |                            7.25 |
|                  | Barpeta    |                              3    |                            3    |
|                  | Darrang    |                              5    |                            5    |
|                  | Dhubri     |                              2.2  |                            2.2  |
|                  | Goalpara   |                              4.96 |                            4.96 |
|                  | Hailakandi |                              3    |                            3    |
|                  | Udalguri   |                              4.63 |                            4.63 |
| FY 2023-24       | Hailakandi |                              2    |                            2    |
| FY 2024-25       | Baksa      |                              3.64 |                            1.84 |
|                  | Barpeta    |                              2.04 |                            1.05 |
|                  | Darrang    |                              3.05 |                            1.55 |
|                  | Dhubri     |                              0.05 |                            0.05 |
|                  | Goalpara   |                              5.05 |                            2.55 |
|                  | Hailakandi |                              0.05 |                            0.05 |
|                  | Udalguri   |                              0.05 |                            0.05 |
| FY 2025-26       | Dhubri     |                              1    |                            0.5  |
| Grand Total      |            |                             98.18 |                           90.7  |

## ANNEXURE - II

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) & (e) of LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4208 FOR 18.03.2026 BY SHRI GAURAV GOGOI REGARDING PERFORMANCE OF ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS IN ASSAM

## Ranks of  Aspirational Districts in Assam during the last five years

| Year (Ranking month)   | District Name   |   Rank |
|------------------------|-----------------|--------|
| 2021 (September)       | Hailakandi      |     15 |
| 2021 (September)       | Goalpara        |     39 |
| 2021 (September)       | Darrang         |     51 |
| 2021 (September)       | Dhubri          |     62 |
| 2021 (September)       | Barpeta         |     64 |
| 2021 (September)       | Udalguri        |    107 |
| 2021 (September)       | Baksa           |    108 |
| 2022 (September)       | Udalguri        |      7 |
| 2022 (September)       | Baksa           |     24 |
| 2022 (September)       | Dhubri          |     43 |
| 2022 (September)       | Hailakandi      |     64 |
| 2022 (September)       | Darrang         |     76 |
| 2022 (September)       | Barpeta         |     86 |
| 2022 (September)       | Goalpara        |     98 |
| 2023 (September)       | Goalpara        |     45 |
| 2023 (September)       | Darrang         |     60 |
| 2023 (September)       | Barpeta         |     65 |
| 2023 (September)       | Udalguri        |     85 |
| 2023 (September)       | Dhubri          |    102 |
| 2023 (September)       | Baksa           |    103 |
| 2023 (September)       | Hailakandi      |    111 |
| 2024 (September)       | Barpeta         |     22 |
| 2024 (September)       | Dhubri          |     56 |
| 2024 (September)       | Udalguri        |     61 |
| 2024 (September)       | Darrang         |     63 |
| 2024 (September)       | Hailakandi      |     71 |

|                  | Baksa      |   76 |
|------------------|------------|------|
|                  | Goalpara   |  109 |
| 2025 (September) | Barpeta    |   41 |
|                  | Udalguri   |   50 |
|                  | Baksa      |   54 |
|                  | Goalpara   |   69 |
|                  | Dhubri     |   84 |
|                  | Hailakandi |   97 |
|                  | Darrang    |  102 |

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