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Andhra Pradesh's Parvathipuram-Manyam district has secured the top rank in the Health and Nutrition category among the country’s 112 Aspirational Districts in NITI Aayog’s Delta Rankings for the quarter ending March 2026. The district also ranked second nationally in the Basic Infrastructure category.
According to the district administration, Parvathipuram-Manyam is the only district in the country to secure top rankings in two thematic sectors in the same Delta Ranking cycle under the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP).
The Delta Rankings measure the incremental progress made by aspirational districts across five broad themes — Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure. NITI Aayog evaluates the districts every quarter based on improvements in key development indicators.
The district administration reportedly attributed the Health and Nutrition ranking to improvements in maternal and child healthcare, antenatal care, institutional deliveries, immunisation coverage, nutrition programmes, and the functioning of Anganwadi centres through coordinated efforts by the Health department and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
Officials also said interventions under the Union government's TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan contributed to the district's performance by helping reduce tuberculosis cases and improving treatment outcomes. Increased awareness among pregnant women and their families also led to a rise in institutional deliveries and greater uptake of supplementary nutrition under the ICDS programme, according to the administration.
Parvathipuram-Manyam, comprising the Parvathipuram and Seethampeta Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) regions, is among the 112 districts identified under NITI Aayog's Aspirational Districts Programme for focused development. The district has long faced challenges, including low literacy, inadequate road connectivity, and poverty despite having abundant natural resources.
The Aspirational Districts Programme aims to accelerate development in relatively underdeveloped districts by tracking improvements across key social and economic indicators and encouraging competition through regular delta rankings.
