The Union Government will soon launch the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP), a new initiative along the lines of the Aspirational District Programme.
The Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP) was announced by the Union Finance Minister in her 2022-23 Budget speech.
Under the Programme, a total of 500 blocks across the country have been identified based on the recommendations of a four-member committee constituted by the government last year.
The NITI Aayog, in partnership with the states, will release a quarterly ranking of these blocks based on their performance on development indicators covering sectors such as health, education and nutrition, among others.
Aspirational District Programme (ADP) :
The Union Government launched the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme in 2018.
The overall objective of the programme;
Convergence of Central & State Schemes.
Collaboration of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers and District Collectors.
Competition among districts with a spirit of mass Movement.
115 districts were transparently identified from 28 states by a committee of Senior Officers to the Government of India, in consultation with State Officials using a composite index.
The Composite index included data from the Socio-Economic Caste Census, Key health and education sector performance and the basic infrastructure of the State.
The NITI Aayog coordinates and manages the programme with support from Central Ministries and State Governments.
NITI Aayog is supervising the initiative in 30 districts.
Various central ministries oversee 50 districts.
The Ministry of Home Affairs focuses on 35 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts.
The Officers at the level of Joint Secretary or Additional Secretary are nominated to become the ‘Central Prabhari Officers’ of each district.
States have appointed Prabhari officers.
An Empowered Committee under the NITI Aayog will help to converge various government schemes and efforts.
NITI Aayog release the Delta ranking for Aspirational Districts to assess the performance across 5 developmental areas;