VIJAYAWADA: Vizianagaram and Kadapa districts stood 4th and 5th respectively, with Visakhapatnam trailing behind at 14th place in the first Delta Ranking of Aspirational Districts released by NITI Aayog on Friday. Vizianagaram secured 17.5 points; Kadapa, 14.9; and Visakhapatnam managed 11 in the rating that takes into account various performance indicators including health, education and skill development.
A total of 108 districts across the country were ranked as part of the project. Dahod of Gujarat topped the list scoring an impressive 19.8, while West Sikkim of Sikkim finished second with 18.9, followed by Ramanathapuram of Tamil Nadu (17.7). In sector-wise ranking, Vizianagaram fared best in the country with 22.2 points in education. Kadapa and Visakhapatnam stood fourth and fifth respectively. Visakhapatnam came second in the financial inclusion category but was the third “least improved district” in skill development in the country with -0.1 delta points. Udham Singh Nagar of Uttarakhand bagged the top honours in the category with 3.3 delta points.
No district from Andhra Pradesh featured in the top five or bottom five of the “improved states” category in health and nutrition, agriculture and basic infrastructure. One of the core strategies of the Transformation of Aspirational District Programme is to ensure that district teams have access to current data so that they can fine-tune their response and improve the effectiveness of their efforts. This allows the ranking of districts in terms of progress.
The ranking is based on incremental (delta) change in performance indicators between March 31, 2018 and May 31, 2018. The programme focuses on 49 key performance indicators in five main themes — health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development and basic infrastructure. According to NITI Aayog, the project will trigger a competitive spirit among dynamic teams in districts. Delta ranking is largely based on data filed by district teams. NITI Aayog has partnered with Tata Trusts and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to assist districts in stepping up key performance indicators through household surveys, the result of which is expected in July.