Aspirational Block Programme:
The Prime Minister of India launched the Aspirational Block Programme at the second National Conference of Chief Secretaries in Delhi.
- The Aspirational Blocks Programme is on the lines of the Aspirational District Programme that was launched in 2018 and covers 112 districts across the country.
- This new programme is aimed at improving performance of blocks lagging on various development parameters.
- This will enable holistic development in those areas that require added assistance.
- The programme will cover 500 districts across 31 states and Union Territories initially.
- Over half of these blocks are in 6 states—Uttar Pradesh (68 blocks), Bihar (61), Madhya Pradesh (42), Jharkhand (34), Odisha (29) and West Bengal (29).
Aspirational Districts Programme:
- It was launched in 2018 and aims to transform districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas.
3C Strategy: The broad contours of the programme- Convergence (of Central & State Schemes)
- Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors)
- Competition (among districts driven by a Mass Movement )
- The ranking is based on the incremental progress made across 49 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
