India is growing at 7% to 8% per annum, the same also needs a reflection on the human development index which stands at a 131th position out of 188 countries. There is need for radical change at the state and district levels to bring significant alteration in the situation, said Mr Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.

Kant was speaking at the special plenary session of the first edition of ‘The Global Industry Association Summit’ with the theme ‘Agents of Change, Partners of Progress’, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at New Delhi recently.

Expressing concern over the rural areas that suffer from lack of health facilities, nutrition and education benefits, Kant said, Industry needs demand to grow. Middle class needs to grow for the demand to rise.

Transformation of these 115 backward districts from poor to middle status will add in demand generation. A concerted effort by the industry/industry associations alongside the Government will have the desired impact, he added.

He urged the industry associations to look into ways to contribute to the development of districts.

The Government has brought social sector to the centre-stage. Education, health, and nutrition need to remain in focus, especially at district level. Big structural changes will happen in health and education. Jobs along with other big changes are coming in education and health, Kant added.

Kant informed that the Government has prepared a structured program to convert this into a mass movement, being monitored on parameters such as health, education, basic infra and financial inclusion.

NITI Aayog is capturing real-time data on a live dashboard on the progress of the key performance indicators and will rank the districts on continuous basis.