NITI Aayog implements the Aspirational District (AD) Programme for improvement of socio-economic indicators in the selected districts. Aspirational Districts in general have shown improvement with respect to the Health and Nutrition indicators. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) supports all States/UTs in implementation of various schemes/initiatives for improvement of healthcare facilities under National Health Mission (NHM) based on the Annual Program Implementation Plan (APIP) submitted by States/ UTs.

As informed by the NITI Ayog, the main strategy of the AD program is based on convergence of existing schemes, which have their own funding arrangement. In order to foster competitive spirit and for addressing the critical gaps, additional allocation via challenge route is provided by NITI Aayog. Every month, districts are assessed on the basis of monthly progress and the best performing Districts in overall terms and in each of the five sectors identified. The first and second rankers in overall terms are awarded Rs. 10 crores and Rs. 5 crores respectively. The first ranker from each of the five sectors taken up in ADs including Health & Nutrition sector is awarded Rs. 3 crores each. Health and Nutrition is assigned major weightage of 30% in selection of Aspirational Districts in the country.

The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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HFW/ PQ /Update on aspirational districts program in targeted districts /28March2023/3