VIZIANAGARAM/VIJAYAWADA: Vizianagaram tops among the 115 most backward districts in the country in the baseline survey conducted by Niti Aayog on the transformation of inspirational districts. The district is at the top with 48.13 percent, followed by Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh with 47.96 percent and Usmanabadh of Maharashtra with 47.43 percent.
Kadapa district ranked 4th with 47.43 percent and Visakhapatnam 13th with 42.66 percent among 115 districts. A baseline survey was conducted in 680 districts from across the country in November last year with the available data from the government.
The survey was conducted on education, health, skill development, industries, agriculture, development of basic amenities and other financial related sectors.
The survey identified 115 most backward districts in the country.“In the composite rankings, Vizianagaram secured top position among all the 115 backward districts in the country and bagged the top rank in the agriculture sector in sector-wise rankings in the baseline survey conducted by Niti Aayog,” District Collector Vivek Yadav said.
He further said efforts are being made by the government and district administration to bring Vizianagaram on par with developed districts in the country in all parameters including health and education. In a bid to develop the identified backward districts by 2020 on all fronts, the Centre deputed a Joint Secretary-level officer to each district as special officers andSMSE joint secretary Anil Kumar was appointed special officer of Vizianagaram district.
On the other hand, NITI Aayog, as part of monitoring the developments started giving ranks by conducting a baseline survey on the transformation of inspiration. When it released the ranks for the first time, Vizianagaram stood 42 and today it topped the chart.
Leader among lagards
3 - Number of Aspirational
Districts in State:
Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and Kadapa
1 - Overall ranking of Vizianagaram in the country
4 - Overall ranking of Kadapa district in the country
13 - Overall ranking of Visakhapatnam in the country.