- The NITI Aayog launched the baseline ranking for 101 aspirational districts based on 49 indicators across several sectors
- It includes health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure.
- The initiative is aimed at creating competition at the state, district and even the block level.
- The chosen districts for the Aspirational Districts programme will be ranked on their incremental progress, exemplifying and encouraging the spirit of competitive federalism.
- As per the baseline ranking, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh is ranked highest with score of 48.13 %.
- According to the baseline rankings, the worst performing districts in the country are Mewat in Haryana, Asifabad in Telangana and Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh.
- The ‘Champions of Change’ dashboard was created by NITI Aayog in partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh for monitoring the real-time progress of the districts.
‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme
- The programme was launched Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2018.
- It aims to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts of the country.