The first index for the September quarter will be published in November this year.
The Centre has allocated Rs 100 crore in FY24 to provide awards and incentives for exemplary contributions for the attainment of ABP objectives and execute innovative ideas in each block.
The government would also rank all the blocks under the ‘Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP)’ every quarter based on their performance.
The first index for the September quarter will be published in November this year.
The financial incentives to blocks will also be given on a quarterly basis. States are also requested to provide suitable incentives to high-performing blocks so that the process remains competitive.
Blocks are the key second-tier local governance which was created post-independence in the 1950s. There are about 7,000 blocks across the states in India.
In consultation with various stakeholders including states, 39 key performance indicators (KPIs) have been chosen to measure the progress of the blocks which have been grouped into five themes. The themes include health and nutrition, education, agriculture and allied services, basic infrastructure and social development. The soft launch of ABP happened on January 7.
“Around 5,000 people or ten people in each of the 500 blocks have trained for the ABP programme,” the official said.
Out of the 500 ABP blocks, the Cabinet will also soon consider a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTB) scheme for 60 tribal blocks under a special development drive. “The Expenditure Finance Committee (chaired by the Expenditure Secretary) has already vetted the proposed PVTB scheme,” the official added.
By March, just ahead of the general elections in April-May, some concrete achievement in various indicators is expected. “In three years, the aspirations blocks are expected to reach the state-level average for blocks in various parameters,” the official said, stressing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be closely monitoring the progress through Niti Aayog.
Source:financialexpress.com