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PM calls for doorstep delivery of services
The Prime Minister reviewed the central government’s aspirational districts programme, launched in January 2018 to quickly and effectively transform 112 most underdeveloped districts in the country
District administrators must ensure doorstep delivery of services in every village through the Digital India mission by creating the necessary infrastructure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday in a virtual interaction with district magistrates from different states and Union territories.
The Prime Minister reviewed the central government’s aspirational districts programme, launched in January 2018 to quickly and effectively transform 112 most underdeveloped districts in the country. DMs must work on timebound targets to increase ease of living for the people, Modi said, asserting that India’s goal is to achieve 100% reach of its services and facilities.
Modi spoke of the significant strides made in these regions over past few years.
“During the last four years, Jan Dhan accounts have increased by 4-5 times in almost every aspirational district. Almost every family has got a toilet and electricity has reached every village,” Modi said. “For development in aspirational districts, a direct and emotional connect between the administration and the public is very important. An important aspect of this campaign is technology and innovation. Excellent results have been obtained by the use of technology and innovation in fields such as malnutrition, clean drinking water and vaccination in some districts.”
The Prime Minister asked the DMs to identify priorities at the block level and set targets for timely delivery of projects, government programmes and services. He directed that detailed guidelines be developed for field visits, inspections and night halts for officials to ensure proper implementation and monitoring.
He also emphasized the importance of integrating districts with the economic mainstream.
“It should be a mission for you to get your district recognised at a national and global level,” Modi told the bureaucrats posted in various districts across the country. “For this, you all need to implement the mantra of vocal for local in your districts. You need to identify the traditional products and skills of your districts and strengthen the value chains.”
The country is witnessing a silent revolution in the form of Digital India, Modi said.
“No district should be left behind in this. Digital infrastructure should reach every village and it should become a means of doorstep delivery of services and facilities,” the Prime Minister said. “I urge NITI Aayog to devise a mechanism wherein all DMs can interact with each other on a regular basis to learn from each other and imbibe the best practises for their districts. Central ministries should also document the challenges faced by districts during this journey.”
The virtual conference was also attended by the chief ministers of Gujarat, Karnataka, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The aspirational districts programme leveraged competitive and cooperative federalism, driven by the Team India spirit, said Amitabh Kant, chief executive of NITI Aayog, the government’s think tank. “Best practises like smart classroom initiative from Banka, Bihar; Mission Aparajita to prevent child marriages from Koraput, Odisha, etc., were replicated by other districts as well,” he said.
The government has now set a mission to uplift 142 selected districts on the lines of the focussed work done in the aspirational districts, said Nagendra Nath Sinha, secretary at the ministry of rural development.
“The Centre and the states will work together to uplift these identified districts to address pockets of underdevelopment,” Sinha said. “15 sectors corresponding to 15 ministries and departments were identified. In the sectors, key performance indicators (KPIs) were identified. The aim of the government is to ensure the KPIs in the selected districts surpass the state average in the next one year, and that they come at par with the national average in two years.”
“Each concerned ministry and department has identified its set of KPIs, on the basis of which districts were selected,” Sinha said. “The initiative is aimed at achieving saturation of various schemes by various departments in the districts in mission mode, in convergence with all stakeholders.”
