Overview
- Co-hosted by DARPG and the Bihar government, the two-day gathering in Patna brought together more than 200 reported delegates from across India to exchange replicable governance models.
- Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the event, praising the Aspirational Districts approach for replacing the “backward district” label with competitiveness, convergence and real-time ranking.
- Day two sessions stressed transparency, Direct Benefit Transfer and holistic delivery, with IIPA’s S. N. Tripathi underscoring time as a key marker of progress in welfare implementation.
- District case studies showcased replicable solutions including Patna’s Anganwadi-based screening for childhood hearing loss, Nalbari’s entrepreneurship clubs under a No One Left Behind push, and Bikaner’s early childhood upgrades with vernacular instruction, electrification and smart TVs.
- Further examples highlighted scale and convergence: Bihar reported 8,000-plus playgrounds under MGNREGA, Azamgarh cited high uptake across flagship schemes, Aravalli detailed multi-scheme delivery, Vaishali leveraged a real-time Panchayat interface, and Tumakuru improved maternal and infant health with full institutional deliveries and digital payments for women vendors.