Question : Aspirational Districts

(a) the salient features of the Aspirational Districts programme;

(b) the achievements made so far under the said programme along with the details of pending work and the steps taken/being taken by the Government to complete the pending works; and

(c) whether the Government has planned to enhance digital connectivity in these districts and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

Answer given by the minister

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 was launched for rapid transformation of 112 relatively underdeveloped Districts. Some of the salient features of this Programme include identification of sectors which are critical for improving quality of life or economic productivity of citizens. These sectors are Health and Nutrition, School Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development and Basic Infrastructure. 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. Besides real-time monitoring, the Champions of Change Portal provides District Administration with tools for data-driven governance and evidence-based policy making.

Every month, districts are ranked on basis of progress made and this instils 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 district. The role of these Prabhari Officers is to guide the district administration on basis of their long experience.

(b) All Aspirational Districts have seen improvement since inception of the Programme. However, every district varies from others in its strengths and challenges, and accordingly, so does its performance. Details of district-wise performance (overall) since inception for aspirational districts is available on the Champions of Change Portal (http://championsofchange.gov.in/site/coc-home/) which is in the public domain.

(c) Department of Telecommunications has planned following schemes for provisioning of 4G based Mobile services in uncovered villages of various Aspirational Districts:
• Aspirational Districts Scheme (502 Villages): The scheme has been planned for provisioning of 4G based Mobile Service in 502 uncovered villages of Aspirational districts of four States-Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan with an estimated cost of Rs. 686.71 crore. Agreement has been signed with the Project Implementing Agencies i.e. M/s RJIL for Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Bidding Unit, M/s Bharati Airtel Ltd. for Bihar bidding unit and M/s Bharati Hexacom Ltd. for Rajasthan bidding unit.
• Aspirational District Scheme (7287 Villages): The scheme has been planned for provisioning of 4G based Mobile service in 7287 uncovered villages of Aspirational Districts of 5 States – Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha with an estimated cost of Rs. 6466 crore. The scheme has been approved by Cabinet in its meeting on 17.11. 2021.
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