NEW DELHI, Nov 24:
Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha today chaired the first meeting of Prabhari officers, tasked with the responsibility of rapid transformation of 115 backward districts, and expressed confidence that they would succeed in their mission.
For each of the 115 backward districts, senior level officials of the Central Government at the rank of Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary have been nominated as Prabhari officer.
The areas have been ranked on the basis of state of poverty, health, education and infrastructure.
The move is in consonance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a ‘New India’ by 2022.
According to an official release, Sinha said in his keynote address that it is an important initiative of making difference in the lives of millions of citizens in these districts.
He advised the Prabhari officers to immediately form teams with state representatives and bring convergence in their effort.
Sinha pointed out that funding is not a constraint in this programme as already, large funds are available under different schemes.
He advised the officers to also explore the availability of funds in District Mineral funds, wherever available for this purpose.
In addition, Sinha asked them to use flexi-funds which are significant in amount and are available under different schemes of the Government.
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant stressed on the need of dramatic improvement in Human Development Index in these backward districts.
The Government is committed to making all round efforts to achieve these objectives in partnership with states, Kant said, advising the officers to assist district administrations in articulation of their vision for 2022.
Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba noted that if these districts are transformed, there would be tremendous improvement in security environment of the country.
He pointed out that while 35 districts have been selected on the basis of reported violence by Left Wing Extremism, 55 districts out of 115 are affected by it.
Another 15, including districts in J&K and North East, are affected by terrorism, he said.
The 115 backward districts identified by the Government include Naxal-hit Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Banka, Nawada, Jamui and Aurangabad (all in Bihar), Koraput and Malkangiri (in Odisha), Khammam (Telangana), Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
Besides, several districts in Jharkhand, including Paschimi Singhbhoom, Purbi Singhboom, Bokaro, Ranchi and Latehar, and Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Dantewada, Kondagaon Narayanpur and Bijapur have been identified as backward.
A prabhari (in-charge) officer, has also been appointed by the Centre for Morbu district in poll-bound Gujarat, according to the order. (PTI)
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