Sharmili Mallick

The tribal-dominated Gajapati district in Odisha has topped the list of Aspirational Districts which have recorded the most impressive performance in August this year. As many as 117 districts across the country have been included in the Niti Aayog’s ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ Programme.

As per the data released by the government’s top think tank on Friday, Gajapati district has bagged the top position in over all Delta Rankings under the Aspirational District programme.

“Delta Rankings under Aspirational District Program for the month of August, 2021 has been released and Gajapati District stood at Number-1 in overall Delta Rank out of 117 Districts all over the Country,” informed the Gajapati District Collector, Lingaraj Panda in a tweet on Friday.

Gajapati district has been ranked number 1 in Agriculture and Water Resources Sector. The district also bagged second position in basic infrastructure during the month of August.

“Overall, there is a change in composite score from July-Aug 2021: 2.7, which is the highest transformation among the 117 Aspirational Districts,” added the District Collector.

The district was awarded a sum of Rs 3 crore by the NITI Aayog for its outstanding performance in the month of August. 

The Niti Aayog’s ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ Programme aims to expeditiously improve the socio-economic status of 117 districts from across 28 States of the country, the Niti Aayog stated. 

The programme focuses on six main themes-- health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development, and basic infrastructure-- which have direct bearing on the quality of life and economic productivity of the citizens. 

The ‘Delta Ranking’ for the Aspirational Districts measures the incremental progress made by the concerned district across these six themes.

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