SRINAGAR : The remote blocks of Keller (Shopian), DK Marg (Kulgam), Manzgam (Kulgam), and Kashtigarh (Doda) had placed among the top ten Aspirational Blocks in the second edition of rankings released here under the Aspirational Block Development Programme (ABDP) of the UT. The third edition of the District Good Governance Index and the first-ever Panchayat rankings were previously announced by the Chief Secretary for the UT, providing the necessary framework to evaluate the developmental criteria from the Panchayat level all the way up to the District level. Dr. Mehta thanked all the officers involved whose efforts have resulted in higher rankings for their respective locations. He claimed that these rankings also highlight the areas that require more attention. He urged the policemen stationed there to redouble their efforts and succeed the following time. He emphasised that these rankings show the results of our past efforts and the direction we should go in moving forward. He gave off the impression that with such forethought behind us, most of our issues will be solved without difficulty in the years to come. He described it as an instrument for guaranteeing effective leadership in the UT. Additionally, he suggested creating a permanent dashboard to track and modify these rankings on a monthly basis. He also instructed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to conduct Town rankings in the coming days in a similar manner.The Harwan and Khonmoh blocks of Srinagar District are ranked first and second among the aspirational blocks that were assessed for the second time after the previous year, followed by Keller (Shopian), DK Marg (Kulgam), Chittergul (Anantnag), Pragwal and Samwan blocks of Jammu, who took sixth and seventh places, Aripal (Pulwama), Manzgam (Kulgam), and Kashtigarh (Doda).Out of 285 Blocks in the UT of J&K, 44 Aspirational Blocks were chosen based on their level of backwardness using 21 indicators that addressed the four main pillars of human development: poverty (3 indicators), health & nutrition (6 indicators), education (7 indicators), and basic infrastructure (5 indicators). To help them meet the requirements, each of these blocks received a financial contribution of Rs 1 crore. The Aspirational Panchayat Development Programme and the Aspirational District Development Programme are both unique initiatives of the JK government that were implemented last year.The 44 Aspirational Blocks were monitored for monitoring purposes using the ABDP Dashboard, which was created based on 49 Key Performance Indicators and 61 Data Points. Moungri (Udhampur), which is at the bottom of the list, is one of the poorest 10 blocks. Others above it in order contains Chasana (Reasi), Mankote (Poonch), DuduBasantgarh (Udhampur), JiJBagli(Reasi), Warwan (Kishtwar), Duggain (Kathua), Gundi Dharam (Ramban), Mahore (Reasi), Tulail (Bandipora) and Marwah (Kishtwar) at 34th place among these 44 backward blocks of the UT. In front of all the Administrative Secretaries, District Development Commissioners, HoDs of Planning, Finance, and other pertinent departments, the Chief Secretary announced these rankings.
