NITI Aayog launched ‘Sampoornata Abhiyan 2.0’ To Bridge Rural-Urban Development Gap

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Context

NITI Aayog launched ‘Sampoornata Abhiyan 2.0’ to achieve saturation in key development indicators across most backward districts and blocks.

What is Sampoornata Abhiyan 2.0?

It is a three-month campaign designed to achieve 100% saturation in key development indicators. 

It targets most socio-economically challenged areas, specifically the 112 Aspirational Districts (ADs) and 513 Aspirational Blocks (ABs). 

Objective: Ensure that the benefits of government services reach every intended beneficiary.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Targets

The Abhiyan uses a targeted strategy to saturate key high-impact indicators for human development, with differentiated goals for Aspirational Blocks and Districts.

Why is a Saturation-Based Approach Necessary?

Ensuring Equity: The saturation approach ensures 100% coverage, leaving no one behind, which benefits marginalized communities.

Improving Efficiency: Focusing on key indicators allows the administration to concentrate resources, increasing efficiency and visible outcomes, and resolving last-mile delivery bottlenecks.

Strengthening Governance: The campaign reinforces the Aspirational Districts Programme's (ADP) core principles—Convergence, Collaboration, and Competition—by making government departments work together toward shared, measurable goals.

What are the Socio-Economic Implications of the Chosen KPIs? 

Health and Nutrition

KPIs like weighing newborns, providing supplementary nutrition, and conducting regular Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) target maternal and child health, breaking the inter-generational cycle of malnutrition and poverty.  

Education and Gender Equality

The provision of functional girls' toilets in schools is directly linked to reducing female dropout rates, promoting gender equality and improving overall educational outcomes.

Rural Livelihoods

Achieving 100% vaccination of cattle against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) aligns with the National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) and helps secure the primary source of income for millions of rural households, strengthening the rural economy.

What are the Potential Challenges in Implementation?

Data Integrity: Ensuring that reported data is accurate and not inflated due to pressure to meet targets.

Inter-Departmental Convergence: Overcoming siloed functioning of various government departments at the block and village levels.

Resource Constraints: Addressing shortages of human and technical resources that can hamper effective execution.

Behavioral Change: Moving beyond infrastructure creation (e.g., toilets) to ensure sustained use through effective IEC (Information, Education, and Communication)  campaigns.

Quality over Quantity: Ensuring the quality of service delivery is not compromised in the push to achieve quantitative targets.

What is the Way Forward?

Leverage Technology: Use real-time, dashboard-based monitoring systems for transparency and accountability.

Empower Local Bodies: Involve Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs) to strengthen community ownership.

Build Capacity: Invest in training for frontline workers and block-level officials who are the campaign's primary implementers.

Incentivize Performance: Maintain the district and block ranking model to encourage competition and innovation.

Document and Replicate: Document campaign best practices to create a national replication template.

Conclusion

Sampoornata Abhiyan 2.0 is a high-intensity strategy to deepen the Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programmes' impact through saturation. This effort accelerates India's progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the vision of a Viksit Bharat.

Source: PIB