Aspirational District Programme (ADP)

Context

The PM has hoped to extend the Aspirational District Programme (ADP) to block and city levels.

About Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP)

• The Programme was launched in January 2018.
• Objectives: The ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ initiative aims to remove heterogeneity through a mass movement to quickly and effectively transform these districts.
• The broad contours of the program are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts driven by a spirit of mass Movement.
• With States as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.
• The three core principles of the programme are:
  • Convergence of Central & State Schemes, which brings together the horizontal and vertical tiers of the government.
  • Collaboration among citizens and functionaries of Central & State Governments, including district teams. This will enable impactful partnerships between government, market, and civil society.
  • Competition among districts driven by a spirit of the mass movement.

Selection of districts

• A total of 117 Aspirational districts have been identified by NITI Aayog based upon composite indicators.
• The objective of the program is to monitor the real-time progress of aspirational districts based on 49 indicators (81 data points) from the 5 identified thematic areas.
• Each district is ranked based on 49 performance indicators identified across the 5 core themes. This includes-

• • Health & Nutrition (30% weightage)
  • Education (30% weightage)
  • Agriculture & Water Resources (20% weightage)
  • Financial Inclusion & Skill Development (10%)
  • Basic Infrastructure (10%)