115 backward districts to be transformed

NEW DELHI: In keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a New India by 2022, the Bjp-led Central Government has embarked upon a major policy initiative for the rapid transformation of 115 most backward districts across the country.

Also keeping in view the 2019 general election, the Government had introduced its most anticipated scheme – Transformation of New India 2022, last week which aims at improving development parameters of these districts.

A total of 115 districts have been identified for this purpose by objective criteria. These include education, health, nutrition basic infrastructure like rural road connectivity, rural household electrification, access to potable water and toilets etc.

The districts include Firozpur and Moga from Punjab, Chamba from Himachal Pradesh, Mewat from Haryana, Kupwara and Baramulla from Jammu & Kashmir are among the 115 districts.

Apart from them, Jharkhand tops the list with 19 districts, 10 districts of Bihar, 8 from Uttar Pradesh, 8 from Odisha, 10 from Chhattisgarh, eight from Madhya Pradesh, five from Rajasthan, seven from Assam, three from Andhra Pradesh, two from Gujarat, four from Maharashtra, three from Telangana, two from Uttarakhand, and five districts from West Bengal are also on the list

The scheme will be executed jointly by the Centre and respective states. There will be a nodal officer in every district, designated prabharis. These officers will serve as a link between the Centre and the states.

The PMO has conceived the scheme, and a significant allocation is likely to be announced for it in the forthcoming Union Budget, which would be the final one for the NDA regime.