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February 2004 |
Geoinformatics for decentralised planning
In the light of the experience gained in designing a GIS for Vedasandur panchayat union, a new proposal for designing an information system for panchayat planning at Block level was approved and submitted to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India, and it was sanctioned by the UGC.
GIS for Athoor Panchayat Union
GeomediaPro software was used in designing a GIS for Athoor panchayat union, Tamil Nadu. The required data was collected mainly from secondary sources and used for creating 12 attribute databases on MS Access. The data contained in these databases pertain to revenue villages. The required spatial data was generated from the above-mentioned sources used in GIS for Vedasandur panchayat union. The base maps on 1:50,000 scale were scanned and digitised in GeomediaPro software. Data pertaining to revenue villages and village panchayats were used in this GIS and found to be relevant to the decision makers at the village panchayat union level.
Users
The GIS designed for Vedasandur and Athoor panchayat unions are being used by a host of users. They include:
- Bureaucrats, Village Panchayat functionaries
- Local Schools
- Non-Governmental Organisations
- Researchers and Students
- Academics and Villagers
Establishing a GIS at panchayat union level planning with revenue village/village panchayat level data is a daunting task. In the light of above experiences, in addition to the data collected from 22 panchayat presidents through an interview schedule in Athoor block the following problems and suggestions was made.
Problems Encountered
Lack of Awareness
- Lack of awareness is common among officials (60 per cent), elected members (80 per cent) and villagers (95 per cent) on use of geoinformatics even though they make use of natural resource data in decision-making.
In the light of the experience gained in designing a GIS for Vedasandur panchayat union, a new proposal for designing an information system for panchayat planning at Block level was approved and submitted to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi
Data Collecting Personnel
- The officials at the sub-district levels are not willing to part with the data for establishing GIS fearing of losing their importance and also to dictate terms to the people the officials withhold data/information.
- The present practice is that the lower level officials (90 per cent) are neither trained in data collection and coding nor given any incentives for collecting the data. Hence, the data colleted by them are often incomplete and are riddled with problems of correctness etc.
Use of data in decision making
- The elected representatives of the people take short and long-term decisions based on the size of population (96 per cent), availability of funds (96 per cent) and the data available in local schools (18 per cent). They are unable to use conventional government sources.
Problems in Data Collection
- Available data are inadequate (36 per cent) and obsolete (91 per cent). The representatives have to make a number of visits to different district offices for collection of data (77 per cent) and required data are seldom available (91 per cent). The panchayat presidents cannot collect data on time (86 per cent). Because of these reasons, the decisions made by the village panchayats are not sound and comprehensive.
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