100 Districts throughout India to be transformed by 2022

New Delhi: In a bid to transform around 100 districts from different parts of the country by 2022, the government has divided them between different ministries and departments with real-time monitoring of their performance.

“While the NITI Aayog is taking responsibility of developing 25 districts, the Home Ministry will take responsibility of another 32 districts,” NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said at a Conference on “Transformation of Aspirational Districts”.

“So we have divided districts among ministries, NITI Aayog and the Home Ministry,” he said.

Kant said the government was planning to start real-time monitoring of districts with ranking changes on a daily and monthly basis across 48 indices of health and nutrition, education, agriculture, water, financial and skill development, and infrastructure.

“Our belief is that what is measured improves rapidly and we have to create competition among districts,” he said.

Kant added that as the scheme goes along, the NITI Aayog will work with the districts and the states.

“While they will tweak the state schemes, we will tweak the central government schemes, and we will all work as a team between districts, states and Centre to ensure that these aspirational districts lift themselves up in all parameters,” he said.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said: “If we succeed in this initiative, India will witness a transformation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that if we can take care of our aspirational districts, then the rest will follow.”

Modi will address the conference and will interact with officials in-charge of transformation of over 100 districts, a statement said.

The event is being organised by the NITI Aayog in keeping with Prime Minister’s vision of a “New India” by 2022.

(IANS)