Holistic development plan for Hailakandi district in the pipeline

A Correspondent

Hailakandi: A holistic development plan for the aspirational district Hailakandi is in the pipeline. This was disclosed in a review meeting chaired by Prabhari Officer and Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Sameer Kumar Khare at the Deputy Commissioner’s conference hall here on Thursday. A team of consultants from the Asian Development Bank will prepare the holistic development plan for the district, Khare stated.

Khare reviewed the status of progress taken up against the funds of Rs.10 crore and Rs.1 crore received from the NEC and under the ‘Challenge Method’ from NITI Aayog. The discussion was held regarding the submission of new proposals to the Ministry of DoNER.

The senior official reviewed the progress on various key performance indicators such as health, education, agriculture, and water resources, basic infrastructure and financial inclusion. Hailakandi district identified by the Niti Aayog comes under the government’s “Aspirational Districts Programme”. Khare asked the officials of concerned departments to submit proposals for the provision of permanent buildings for AWC’s; Girls’ toilets in elementary schools; grid solar electrification at schools and health sub-centers; solar-powered water pumps, etc. He emphasized that schemes taken up under funds received from NEC & NITI Aayog have to be sustainable and outcome-specific.

Khare lauded the HAMUL scheme and Happy School initiative taken up against the funds received from NITI Aayog. Khare stressed on implementing innovative measures on the ground to fast track progress. Progress is being tracked through real-time data collection. “A critical aspect of the programme’s approach is its focus on district-specific strengths and the identification of low-hanging fruit. And focusing on the areas that will yield immediate improvement in the district,” said Assistant Commissioner, Parikshit Phukan.

Besides tailoring interventions, the programme is novel in four important ways: shifting the focus to socio-economic outcomes, placing data at the core of policymaking, emphasizing collaboration across various levels of government, and partnering with civil society. The programme shifts the focus away from output and draws attention to socio-economic outcomes. To provide an initial benchmark for the programme, the government has collected statistics on 49 indicators across five core dimensions: health and nutrition, education, financial inclusion, agriculture and water resources, skill development and basic infrastructure.

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