Parliament Question: Aspirational Districts Programme

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1849 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026 ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS PROGRAMME

1849. DR. ANAND KUMAR:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

(a) the criteria and socio-economic indicators that are used for the selection of the districts under the Aspirational Districts Programme;

(b) the details of the parameters and key indicators like health, education, nutrition, agriculture, infrastructure and financial inclusion that are used to assess the progress of development in the aspirational districts;

(c) whether regular studies /evaluations are being carried out/conducted by the Government to monitor and measure the progress regarding implementation of the Aspirational Districts Programme; and

(d) if so, the key findings of such studies and the details of the corrective measures that have been taken in the implementation of the programme based on these findings? Page 1 of 9ANSWER 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 CULTURE (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a) The Aspirational Districts were selected through a transparent process on the basis of published data. A composite index was prepared comprising challenges faced by the districts in terms of poverty of their citizens, relatively poor health and nutrition, education status, and deficient infrastructure.112 districts have been identified on the basis of these transparent criteria. These districts include 35 districts affected by Left Wing Extremism, which were selected by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The list of datasets and the weight attached to them for selection of these districts is attached in Annexure-I.

(b) The details of the 49 key indicators/ Parameters in the sectors of health & Nutrition, education, agriculture, Basic infrastructure and Skill development/ financial inclusion, that are used to assess the progress of development under the aspirational districts, are attached at Annexure – II.

(c) & (d) There have been two independent assessments of the functioning and impact of the Aspirational Districts Programme

(ADP)

(i) UNDP made a comprehensive appraisal of this programme Page 2 of 9(ii) Institute for Competitiveness Assessment (a team of expert led by Prof. Michael Porter of Harvard Business school) made a detailed assessment of the programme The UNDP report titled “Aspirational Districts Programme: An Appraisal,” submitted in December 2020, confirmed that significant progress has been made in various aspects such as sector-wise growth, better governance through convergence, and accelerated development through competitive federalism. This progress has been driven by factors including strong leadership, real-time monitoring, data-driven decision-making, and capacity building. Additionally, the Institute for Competitiveness highlighted that nearly all districts in the ADP have shown improvement on key development parameters compared to the baseline, with the programme successfully advancing social impact and justice by targeting the benefits towards the most disadvantaged areas. The delta ranking system has played a crucial role in fostering a competitive and dynamic culture, which has motivated several low-performing districts to enhance their standings over the past three years.

Moreover, the Aspirational Districts Programme has developed the Champions of Change Dashboard to monitor the districts and capture real-time data on 49 indicators. The progress of all 112 districts is monitored periodically and the performance data of the districts is publicly accessible via the Champions of Change Dashboard (http://championsofchange.gov.in).

Page 3 of 9ANNEXURE - I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1849 FOR 11.02.2026 BY DR. ANAND

KUMAR: REGARDING ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS PROGRAMME DATABASES SECTOR WEIGHT Landless household’s dependent on Manual labour Deprivation 25% (Socio Economic Caste Census – Deprivation (25%)

7) Antenatal care

7.5% (National Family Health survey (NFHS) - 4) Health & Institutional delivery (NFHS-4) Nutrition 7.5% Stunting of children below 5 years (NFHS-4) (30%) 7.5% Wasting in children below 5 years (NFHS-4) 7.5% Elementary dropout rate (Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE) Education 7.5% 2015-16) (15%) Adverse pupil teacher ratio (U-DISE 2015-16) 7.5% Un-electrified households (Ministry of Power) 7.5% Households without individual toilets

7.5% (Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation) Infra Un-connected PMGSY village (30%) 7.5% (Ministry of Rural Development) Rural Household without access to water

7.5% (Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation) Total 100% Page 4 of 9The sources of the data set are as follows:

1. http://rchiips.org/NFHS/districtfactsheet_NFHS-4.shtml (NFHS 4 Datasheet)

2. http://secc.gov.in/categorywiseDeprivationReport?reportType= SC%20Category# (SECC 2011- Deprivation Datasheet)

3. http://udise.in/drc2015-16.htm (U-DISE 2015-16 Datasheet)

4. http://saubhagya.gov.in/ (Saubhagya Website)

5. http://pmgsy.nic.in/ (PMGSY Website) Page 5 of 9ANNEXURE – II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1849 FOR 11.02.2026 BY DR. ANAND

KUMAR: REGARDING ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS PROGRAMME List of 49 Key Performance Indicators S.

Key Performance Indicators No.

Percentage of Pregnant Women receiving four or more antenatal

1.1 care check-ups against total ANC registration Percentage of ANC registered within the first trimester against

1.2 total ANC registration Percentage of pregnant women (PW) registered for ANC against

1.3 estimated pregnancies Percentage of pregnant women taking Supplementary Nutrition 2 under the ICDS programme regularly Percentage of Pregnant having severe anaemia treated, against

3.1 PW having severe anaemia tested cases.

Percentage of Pregnant Women tested for Haemoglobin (Hb) 4

3.2 or more times for respective ANCs, against total ANC registration

4.1 Sex Ratio at birth Percentage of institutional deliveries out of total estimated

4.2 deliveries Percentage of home deliveries attended by an SBA (Skilled Birth 5 Attendance) out of total home deliveries

6.1 Percentage of new-borns breastfed within one hour of birth

6.2 Percentage of live born infants with a birth weight 2500 gms

6.3 Proportion of live babies weighed at birth 7 Percentage of underweight children under 5 years

8.1 Percentage of stunted children under 5 years

8.2 Percentage of children with Diarrhoea treated with ORS

8.3 Percentage of children with Diarrhoea treated with Zinc Percentage of children with ARI in the last 2 weeks taken to a

8.4 health facility

9.1 Percentage of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)

9.2 Percentage of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) Page 6 of 9S.

Key Performance Indicators No.

10.1 Breastfeeding children receiving adequate diet (6-23 months) Non-Breastfeeding children receiving adequate diet (6-23

10.2 months) Percentage of children fully immunized (9-11 months) (BCG+ 11 DPT3 + OPV3 + Measles1) Tuberculosis (TB) case notification rate (Public and Private

12.1 Institutions) as against estimated cases TB Treatment success rate among notified TB patients (public

12.2 and private)

13.1 Establishment of Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs) Proportion of Primary Health Centers compliant to Indian Public

13.2 Health Standards

13.3 functional FRUs (First referral units) rate Availability of specialist services in District hospitals against

13.4 IPHS norms

13.5 Conduct of village health, Sanitation, Nutrition Days

13.6 Proportion of Anganwadis with own buildings Percentage of First referral units (FRU) having labour room and

13.7 obstetrics OT NQAS certified (i.e., meet LaQShya guidelines)

14.1 Transition Rate (a) Primary to Upper Primary level

14.2 (b) Upper Primary to Secondary level 15 Toilet access: % schools with functional girls’ toilets 16 Learning outcomes (Average in government schools)

(a) Mathematics performance in Class 3

(b) Language performance in Class 3

(c) Mathematics performance in Class 5

(d)Language performance in Class 5

(e) Mathematics performance in Class 8

(f) Language performance in Class 8 17 Female literacy rate (15+ Age group) 18 Percentage of schools with functional drinking water facility 19 Percentage of schools with functional electricity facility at secondary level 20 Percentage of elementary schools complying with RTE specified Pupil Teacher Ratio Page 7 of 9S.

Key Performance Indicators No.

21 Percentage of schools providing textbooks to children within 1 month of start of the academic session 22 Water Positive investments and Employment

(a) Percentage of net sown area under micro-irrigation

(b) Number of water bodies rejuvenated under MGNREGA 23 Crop Insurance- Percentage of net sown area under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) 24 Increase in Critical Inputs usage and supply

(a) 3 (a)Percentage increase in agricultural credit

(b) 3 (b) Certified quality seed distribution 25 Number of mandi in the district linked to electronic market 26 A) Percentage change in Price Realization (Wheat) B) Percentage change in Price Realization (Paddy Common, Paddy Grade A) 27 Percentage share of high value crops to total sown area in district 28 Agricultural productivity of 2 major crops 29 Percentage of animals vaccinated 30 Artificial Insemination coverage 31 Number of Soil Health Cards distributed 32 Total Disbursement of Mudra loan (in rupees) per 1 Lakh population 33 Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY): Number of Enrolments per 1 Lakh population 34 Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY): Number of Enrolments per 1 Lakh population 35 Atal Pension Yojana (APY): Number of Beneficiaries per 1 Lakh population 36 Percentage of bank accounts seeded with Aadhaar as a percentage of total banking accounts 37 Number of accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana 38 No of youth certified in short term and long-term training schemes / no of youth in district in age group 15-29 39 No of certified youth employed /No of youth trained under short term and long-term training Page 8 of 9S.

Key Performance Indicators No.

40 Number of Apprentices completing/Total number of trainees registered on the portal 41 No of people certified under Recognition of Prior Learning / Non formally skilled workforce 42 Number of Vulnerable/Marginalized youth certified trained under short term and long-term training a) Women - certified trained, b) SC - certified trained c) ST - certified trained d) OBC - certified trained e) Minorities - certified trained f) Differently abled - certified trained) / Total Number of youth certified trained 43 Percentage of households with electricity connection 44 Percentage of Gram panchayats with internet connection 45 a) Percentage of habitations with access to all weather roads under PMGSY b) Cumulative number of kilometres of all-weather road work completed as a percentage of total sanctioned kilometres in the district under PMGSY 46 Percentage of households with Individual Household Latrines 47 Percentage of Rural habitations with access to adequate quantity of potable water - 40 lpcd drinking water in rural 48 Coverage/ establishment of Common Service Centres at Gram Panchayat level 49 Number of pucca houses constructed for household who are shelter-less or having one room with kuchha wall and kuchha roof or having 2 room with kuchha wall and roof ***** Page 9 of 9