VISAKHAPATNAM: On the eve of Visakha Utsav, the district administration was forced to swallow a bitter pill. Visakhapatnam was ranked among the bottom 10 of 112 districts in the country in the Second Delta rankings released by NITI Aayog as part of its Aspirations Districts Programme Deep Dive, on Thursday.
In the over-all rankings, Visakhapatnam district was placed at 106th rank of the total districts in the country, while the other two districts, Vizianagaram and Kadapa districts, were ranked 11th and 19th, respectively.
The three districts from Telangana included Bhupalpally, Asifabad, and Khammam, which were ranked 35th, 56th and 68th — all better than Visakhapatnam.Responding, District Collector Praveen Kumar said, “The Delta ranking is for the current month. But the baseline data rank is for six months from May-June, 2018 onwards. In that, Visakhapatnam district stood on the fifth rank. The Chief Planning Officer has confirmed that we received a mail in this regard. However, we are trying for the best rank and we will continue our programmes to achieve a better ranking.”
Officials said in the NITI Aayog Aspirational Districts Half-yearly Baseline Ranking as on 31 October 2018, Vizianagaram district topped in the latest rankings, while YSR Kadapa district obtained fourth rank and Visakhapatnam secured fifth rank from the State.
From Telangana, Khammam got 22 rank, Bhupalpally (Warangal) achieved 32 rank and Asifabad (Adilabad) got the 53-rank.Speaking to TNIE, Vizianagaram District Collector Dr Hari Jawaharlal expressed happiness over the latest ranking. “It is a matter of pride,” he said. He said “In the baseline ranking, Vizianagaram stood first in the country. Previously, the district stood fourth. We achieved this with our officers and employees relentless work.”
The second delta ranking of the Aspirational Districts also combines innovative use of data science with pragmatic administration, keeping the district in focus of inclusive development. This positioning is expected to assist the District Magistrates/ District Collectors to focus more on these sectors and further improve their ranking in the future.