TOP OF THE CLASS

The INDIA TODAY State of the State (SOTS) districts awards are based on a sophisticated methodology founded on rigorous reporting and big data analysis of development parameters carefully collected over a decade. Aware that modernisation and development are often a corollary of urbanisation, and therefore that urban districts would invariably have an advantage over rural ones, the INDIA TODAY research team also sought to capture the pace of progress and award acceleration in action. As a result, economically backward districts in regions that have historically proved resistant to technological and cultural change are the surprise winners in some categories.

BEST OVERALL

VARANASI

POPULATION: 3.67 MILLION; AREA: 1,535 SQ. KM

In the past five years, Varanasi district has made notable progress in infrastructure, building world-class roads, express trains, waste treatment plants and modern traffic control systems. In a bid to promote riverborne commercial transport in India, the central government, in November 2018, inaugurated a multi-modal river terminal system on the Ganga, with one of three ports/ container depots in Varanasi city. The city is also the site of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project, a revival of about 30 ancient temples. “This is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship project for his parliamentary constituency,” says Ashutosh Tandon, district in-charge and state government cabinet minister. Varanasi district won the overall ‘best district’ category because it had the highest overall rank—#1 in infrastructure, #3 in services, #4 in health, #6 in prosperity, #8 in industry and #9 in education and law and order.

MOST IMPROVED OVERALL

SULTANPUR

P: 2.43 MILLION; A: 2,673 SQ. KM

Winning this category in part because of its significant effort in implementing government schemes, Sultanpur