Kiphire climbs to second spot in ‘aspirational’ districts ranking in India

Our ReporterDimapur, March 2 (EMN): Kiphire district in Nagaland has made it to the second position in the ranking of aspirational districts by National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog for January 2021.

Nawada district in Bihar tops the list of aspirational districts in the central government think tank’s Delta ranking under overall performance. Namsal district in Arunachal Pradesh is in the third position, followed by Hailakandi district in Assam and Chandel district in Manipur.

The delta ranking, which is done every month, takes into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across India in six developmental areas. Aspirational districts programme was launched in January 2018 with an aim to transform districts with relatively lesser growth in key social areas.

The deputy commissioner of Kiphire, Ajit Kumar Ranjan, on Tuesday wrote on Twitter: “Very gratifying to note that Kiphire has secured 2nd position overall in the country in January 2021 Niti Aayog Delta ranking of Aspirational districts.”

He wrote that Kiphire’s composite score increased from 39.5 in December 2020 to 41.2 in January 2021.

The district ranks 1st in health and nutrition sector, 68th rank in agriculture and water resources sector, 74th rank in financial inclusion and skill development sector, and 90th rank in basic infrastructure sector.

“A big jump in Health sector from 112th to First Rank in the country. This is the best ever performance by Kiphire in delta ranking. Kudos to entire district team,” the DC wrote.

He further expressed his gratitude to team Kiphire and the development partners for the achievement, adding that “strides have been made in health and livelihood sectors”.

NITI Aayog also took to social media to state that ‘the most improved Aspitational districts on  its delta ranking for the month of January 2021 have kick-started the new year on a promising role’.

“Very heartening to see 4 Aspirational districts of North-East with challenging geographies, in top 5! Kiphire in Nagaland deserves special credit for improving livelihoods through the cultivation of a local kidney bean variety ‘Kholar’ & setting up tailoring units for women. Gr8,” tweeted  NITI Aayog CEO,  Amitabh Kant.