J&K's Kupwara least improved; 9 Bihar districts among bottom 20: NITI Aayog
New Delhi, June 29: Among the 108 most backward districts across the country, Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara has shown the least improvement while Gujarat's Dahod has shown the most, the NITI Aayog said on Friday.
Releasing the first "delta ranking" of the most backward districts in the country -- which the NITI Aayog has dubbed as aspirational districts -- the government's premier think-tank said the purpose of the ranking is to spur a sense of competition among them.
The 20 bottom ranked districts include nine districts from Bihar, five from Jharkhand and three from Odisha.
Apart from Kupwara, Bihar's Begusarai, and Jharkhand's Ranchi and Simdega have fared the worst improvement being ranked at the bottom.
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant had last year said that districts in a few eastern India states were holding India back and there was a need to "name and shame them".
He had then said there was a need to create a baseline survey and monitor these states and districts on a regular basis and put it all in the public domain.
"We need to name and shame these states and districts. We must bring it out that these are the states which are holding India back," he had said.
Districts which have fared well in the rankings include Gujarat's Dahod, West Sikkim and Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram ranked first, second and third respectively.
"Asifabad district of Telangana, which was ranked 100 in baseline ranking released in March this year, has made significant improvements in the past two months and stood at 15 in delta ranking," Kant said on Friday.
"Dahod district of Gujarat improved 19.8 points to rank first in the delta ranking (it was ranked 17 in baseline ranking)," he said.
West Sikkim district stood second with 18.9 points, a huge improvement from being in the 30th position in baseline ranking.
"Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh also made significant strides by improving 14.7 points and ranked sixth in delta ranking from 45th position in baseline ranking," Kant said.
The ranking was based on self-reported data of districts in April and May across five developmental areas of health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, and basic infrastructure.
The next ranking will take into account inputs from the NITI Aayog's knowledge partners - Tata Trusts, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (ID Insights).
"Since these districts face many challenges including legacy, unexploited or weak resource base, deficit of manpower at different levels due to difficult living conditions etc, the ranking is also a tool to identify sectors and indicator specific challenges so that Team India, which is driving this programme, can take immediate corrective measures," Kant said.
A NITI Aayog statement said that this delta ranking takes a step further and looks into specific aspects of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and analyses how districts have performed in last two months across important sectors.
"This grouping and positioning would aid the District Magistrates and Collectors to focus more on these sectors and improve their ranking in future," it said.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January this year, the 'Transformation of Aspirational Districts' programme aims to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts of the country.
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'Traitor' jibe: HC issues notice to police, Sena MLA on Kamra's plea against FIR
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to Mumbai police and Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel on comedian Kunal Kamra's plea challenging an FIR lodged against him for allegedly passing a "traitor" jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and S M Modak said it would hear Kamra's petition on April 16.
The comedian has failed to appear before the Mumbai police for questioning despite three summons issued to him.
Following a complaint by Sena MLA Murji Patel, the Khar police in Mumbai last month registered the FIR against Kamra under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356(2) (defamation).
"Issue notice to the respondents (police and Patel). They shall take instructions and respond to the plea," the HC said.
Three FIRs registered against the comedian at Nashik Rural, Jalgaon and Nashik (Nandgaon) have also been transferred to the Khar police.
Kamra's counsel Navroz Seervai informed the Bombay HC bench that the Madras High Court on Monday extended till April 17 the earlier interim transit anticipatory bail granted to the comedian.
The petitioner has offered in writing thrice to the police to allow him to appear for questioning via video conference in light of the dangers and threat to his life, Seervai said.
"It seems that the police authorities are not so keen on recording his statement but more on bringing him here physically," the senior counsel claimed.
Kamra is presently in Tamil Nadu where he has been residing since 2021, as per his plea.
"This is not a case of murder. It is an FIR that has stemmed from a stand-up comedy show. He (Kamra) is ready to cooperate with the probe but through video conference," Seervai said.
The bench said it would consider all issues on April 16.
During the show, stand-up comedian Kamra had taunted Shinde, without taking his name, using a modified version of a Hindi song from the film "Dil To Pagal Hai" where he called him a "gaddar" (traitor).
The comedian went on to joke about how Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership (in June 2022).
In his plea filed on April 5, Kamra claimed the complaints against him were violative of his fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression, right to practice any profession and business and right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution of India.
He sought for the FIR to be quashed, claiming the allegations, even if taken at face value, do not constitute an offence.
The comedian also sought the HC to protect him from any coercive action including arrest, seizure of his personal electronic devices and examination of his financial transactions and accounts.
"To permit the investigation to continue would constitute a frontal assault on the freedom of speech and expression. Should a citizen's right to comment on the political developments and actions of political leaders be criminalised in this manner?" the petition said.
Kamra said his remarks made regarding the split in the Shiv Sena, Shinde quitting Uddhav Thackeray's Sena faction and being sworn in as the chief minister at the time (in 2022) are all part of records.
The plea said the FIR has been registered on a stand-up comedy performance, which provides satirical commentary on various social and political events of the country.
There has been a gross abuse of process and the malafide deployment of the criminal justice machinery by a member of the state's legislative assembly, resulting in a patent violation of a citizen's fundamental rights, it claimed.
As per the petition, Kamra wrote the show's script in July 2024 and performed it on 60 occasions between August last year and February 2025.
A recording of the show was uploaded only in March 2025, pursuant to which case was lodged, it said.
