Aspirational District

Aspirational District

TOPIC: Governance

Section: Schemes

Context- Addressing a webinar on Union Budget, titled ‘Financing for Growth & Aspirational Economy’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called for identifying three sectors in which the nation could be in the top three in the world.

Concept-

• India can emerge among the top 3 countries in sectors such as
  • construction,
  • start-ups, and
  • recently opened up areas such as drones, space and geo-spatial data.
• Priority schemes AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, PM Gatishakti National Masterplan, Aspirational Districts Programme or the development of Eastern India and the North-East can boost up these sectors.
• The Prime Minister stressed the link between India’s aspirations and strength of MSME.

About Aspirational District Programme:

• The 115 districts were identified from 28 states, at least one from each state.
• Aspirational Districts are those districts in India, that are affected by poor socio-economic indicators.
• The improvement in these districts can lead to the overall improvement in human development in India.
• At the Government of India level, the programme is anchored by NITI Aayog. In addition, individual Ministries have assumed responsibility to drive the progress of districts.
• The objective of the program is to monitor the real-time progress of aspirational districts.
• ADP is based on 49 indicators from the 5 identified thematic areas, which focuses closely on improving people’s
  • Health & Nutrition,
  • Education,
  • Agriculture & Water Resources,
  • Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and
  • Basic Infrastructure.
• The broad strategy of the programme include:
  • Convergence: horizontal and vertical governments.
  • Collaboration: impactful partnerships between government, market and civil society.
  • Competition: fosters accountability on district governments.