10 Jan 2023 Aspirational Block program

Aspirational Block program

This article covers “Daily current events “and the topic is ‘The aspirational block programme’ which is in news, it covers the “Government policies and interventions” In GS-2, and the following content has relevance for UPSC. 

For prelims: Facts about Aspirational block programme, SDG, NITI Ayog

For mains: GS-2, Impact of Aspirational block programme

Why in news:

The government’s Aspirational Block Programme (ABP), which was announced by the prime minister, aims to improve the performance of blocks that are falling behind on several development metrics.

Aspirational Block Program (ABP)

The Aspirational Blocks Program is modeled after the Aspirational District Program, which was introduced in 2018 and includes 112 districts nationwide.

In the Union Budget for 2022–2023, the Center stated that it intended to begin this effort.

At first, the initiative will include 500 districts spread over 31 states and Union Territories.

Six states make up the majority of these blocks:

• Odisha (29),
• West Bengal (29),
• Bihar (61),
• Madhya Pradesh (42),
• Jharkhand (34) and
• Uttar Pradesh (68).

About Aspirational Districts Program (ADP)

• The “Transformation of Aspirational Areas” initiative, which was started in January 2018, intends to eliminate this heterogeneity through a widespread campaign to quickly and efficiently alter these districts.
• The program’s main tenets include convergence (of central and state schemes), collaboration (between central, state-level “Prabhari” officers, and district collectors), and competition among districts motivated by a sense of mass movement.
• With States acting as the primary motivators, this method will concentrate on the strengths of each district, identify easy areas for quick improvement, track development, and rank districts.
• NITI Aayog has selected 117 Aspirational districts overall using composite factors.
• Based on 49 indicators (81 data points) from the 5 chosen thematic areas, the program’s goal is to track the development of aspirational districts in real time.

The following districts have been given weight:

• (30%) Health & Nutrition
• (30% of the vote)
• (20%) Agriculture & Water Resources
• Skill development and financial inclusion (10%)
• Basic Infrastructure (10%)

The ADP’s approach

The following is a summary of the program’s main Strategy.

• making a large-scale development effort in these areas
• Determine each district’s strengths and low-hanging fruit in order to serve as a development accelerator.
• To encourage competition, track progress, and rank districts.
• Districts should strive to be the greatest in their states and the country.

ADP’s characteristics

• A Jan Andolan has sprung from it.
• By tracking real-time data, the ADP attempts to monitor the development of these areas.
• The program works to create a convergence between a few currently running federal and state government programs.
• Another noteworthy aspect is how the district performs in the public eye and how the district bureaucracy gains experience.
• The district’s population as a whole is the program’s target audience, not just one particular beneficiary group.

What is unique about this program:

• In particular, what happened to India’s development effort after planning came to an end is reflected in the program.
• Sectors that have long needed attention now receive it.
• It is not a custom program with a one-size-fits-all approach. The districts have been given more responsibility. It has a plan for district-level intervention.
• It functions according to the strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) model and comparison with the best national standards for resource management.
• The Prime Minister has given it the most scrutiny.
• Good work never goes unnoticed is the underlying tenet of the concept. Both the officials and on social media, it is properly recognized.

Programming Prowess:

• The gathering of baseline data and follow-ups at regular intervals is a significant strength of the ADP.
• Maintaining this work would result in a strong statistics compilation for use by scholars and policymakers.
• By doing this, the government also demonstrates its commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goals and bringing a much-needed focus to human development (SDGs).
• The rankings show that the selected districts are making little-by-little development.
• The program also makes the claim that it is “non-partisan and neutral” and focused at overall progress in India.
• The choice of districts does in fact imply that there is no regional, political, or other bias in the scheme.
• The initiative aims to bring together state and federal programs that are focused on particular activities.

Concerns associated with the program:

• They make the case that the selection of districts for the programs is flawed by using the example of Bihar.
• Because the most fundamental indicator of development, per capita income, has not been taken into account, it actually ignores the least developed districts.
• It appears that there is considerable confusion regarding whether the initiative is focused solely on bettering access or also on the caliber of services offered.
• The employed indicators are not relationally defined; rather, they are static measures of human growth that do not observe persons caught up in changing social dynamics.
• Furthermore, it is said that the state is moralizing about these districts’ failure to improve while doing nothing new or targeting to invest public money in them (apart from the potential use of Flexi-funds) (through rankings).
• The programme is responsible for demonstrating the government’s “developmental” efforts while ignoring all of the key problems that surround attaining equal development.
• Nevertheless, the NITI Aayog defends the broader strategy as utilizing “low-hanging fruit.”

Way Ahead:

• The initiative has been able to improve the lives of Indian residents in the areas of education, health, nutrition, financial inclusion, and skill development. This has especially helped some of the country’s most underdeveloped and remote districts.
• ADP adheres to the SDGs’ essential fundamental tenet of “leaving no one behind.” According to the report, the program’s quick success was the result of high-level political commitment.
• The UNDP has suggested changing a few metrics, such as the “electrification of households” as a basic infrastructure indicator, that are either near to approaching saturation or are already met by the majority of districts.

 Source:

• The Indian Express

piyush singh