On January 29, 2020, NITI Aayog ( National Institution for Transforming India), a policy think tank of the Government of India (GoI), released the ranking of Aspirational Districts of the country for the month of December 2019.
Top 3: Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) has topped the list of aspiring districts in December 2019 with the score of 57.6. It was followed by Balangir district of Odisha in 2nd (53.9) and YSR district (formerly known as Kadapa District) of Andhra Pradesh in 3rd place (65.2).
Key Points:
i.The ranking is based on the progress made in 5 development areas in 112 aspirational districts across India in December 2019. The rankings focus on progress in Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion& skill development and Basic infrastructure.
ii.The Aspirational District Program was launched in January 2018. Aspirational districts are ranked every month. This includes districts with relatively little progress in important social sectors.
Top 3 states in Aspirational Districts ranking:
| Rank | State | District | Score (November-2019) | Score (December-2019) | Delta Score (Incl. Saturated Indicators) |
| 1 | Uttar Pradesh | Chandauli | 54.6 | 57.6 | 3.002 |
| 2 | Odisha | Balangir | 51.1 | 53.9 | 2.796 |
| 3 | Andhra Pradesh | Y.S.R. | 62.9 | 65.2 | 2.310 |
About NITI Aayog:
Formed– 1 January 2015
Headquarters– New Delhi.
Chairperson– Narendra Modi.
Chief Executive Officer(CEO)- Amitabh Kant.
Vice Chairperson– Rajiv Kumar.
