Bhubaneswar: The state government has agreed to take part in the central government Aspirational District Programme that aims to bring a change in the lives of people residing in 115 backward districts of the country.

Niti Aayog is selecting these districts and will implement development programmes in co-ordination with the state governments.

Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said: "We have agreed to take part and send our proposal." However, sources revealed that the state government has put some conditions including more grants for the development of backward districts.

The state government has also made changes in the list of the districts that are to be included in the said programme. Earlier, the Centre had included Kalahandi, Rayagada, Dhenkanal, Kandhamal, Balangir, Gajapati, Malkangiri and Koraput under the programme.

The state government has demanded that two more districts - Nabarangpur and Nuapada - should be included in place of Dhenkanal. The districts were selected based on various parameters such as nutritional level, illiteracy and availability of infrastructure for this exercise.

The state also demanded appointment of fresh Prabhari officers for these districts.

The development commissioner will be designated as nodal officer for the state and the Prabhari officers along with state government officials identified for the districts will make a presentation before the state-level committee headed by chief secretary. Only after that, the Prabhari officers can send their report to the Centre.

The state government decided to take part after Niti Ayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar met chief minister Naveen Patnaik last month and urged the state government not to boycott Aayog's meetings and assured that the Ayog would address all issues concerning Odisha.