Capacity Building of Government Line Departments for Making Use of Geospatial Database in Natural Resource Management in India
Development of GIS Database: The information thus collected and generated from various sources was transformed into Geographic Information System (GIS), and spatial and non-spatial database were created. Finally, in order to demonstrate the use of the database thus generated to the line departments, an integrated resource development action plan was evolved for one of the development blocks of the district.
Technology Transfer and Capacity Building of Line Departments
In order to facilitate the application and use of the geospatial database in the planning and management of natural resources at district and sub-district levels a capacity building strategy was formulated and implemented at district level. The main components of this capacity development framework are as follows:
Technological Capacity Building of Line Departments: User’s interaction workshops were organized to demonstrate the efficiency of the database approach for drawing up integrated resource development plans and to develop user specified applications and test the tools and technologies developed through R & D institutions. Besides, as an important components of the capacity building program two personnel nominated by each of the district level line departments (Forest, Agriculture, Horticulture, Soil Conservation, Public Work Department, Irrigation Department, Water department, Rural Development Agency) have been imparted one-month intensive training in the handling, management and application of geospatial database in the formulation of development schemes and plans.
Institutional Capacity Building of Line Departments: A multi-tier institutional set up is being developed for providing technical support in NRDMS technologies and cater the needs of decentralized planning at national, state and local levels. The Forest and Agriculture Departments have been identified as nodal line departments at the district level as a part of the multi-tier institutional hierarchy for providing necessary training, demonstration and technical support to other user agencies at district and sub-district levels.
Infrastructural Capacity Building of Line Departments: Series of joint-meetings were organized with the officials of the line departments, representatives of the State Government and the officials of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for evolving a workable framework for the development of the infrastructural capacity of the user agencies. It was resolved that the minimum hardware and software required by each of the user department at district and sub-district levels for making use of geospatial database will be provided by both the State and Central governments on cost sharing basis.
Organizational Capacity Building of Line Departments: A geospatial data application cell has been created within each of the identified government line departments in the district with support of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the State Government to ensure the wider application of the GIS based natural resources information system in the planning and management of natural resources at district and sub-district levels. All the geospatial application cells working within each line department are proposed to be interlinked with computers so that the data access and sharing would become easier and in order to ensure the application of database approach by all user agencies these cells will function in a coordinated manner under the administrative control of the District Magistrate.
Constraints in Capacity Building
Despite, the initiatives taken by the key government agencies for facilitating the use of GIS database an effective tool of multi-level decision support system, and creation of a technological base for the development and application geospatial database at various levels, the potential of the available resources is not being utilized to the desirable level. There are several factors and practical constraints coming in the way of making the GIS technology acceptable and adaptable to government agencies (Tiwari, 2002, 2003b). The important constraints discouraging the application of GIS database in the planning and management of natural resources are:
- The government officials, particularly, the bureaucrats, at district and lower lack will-power and interest in the promotion of the application of the emerging areas of science and technology, particularly the recent tools of data acquisition, handling and management, such as, remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) in the formulation and implementation of resource development plans. It has been observed in many cases that if the technical staff working in the department is willing to undergo the desired training and make use of the technology he or she is not encouraged doing so.
- The desired information about the potential, capability and effectiveness of GIS technology in the analysis, mapping and management of natural resources is not readily available to the user agencies mainly owing to lack of coordination among the government departments at various level. Besides, the technology has not yet been popularized among the user agencies at desired level.
- Almost all the government departments do not have trained manpower capable of making use of the state of art GIS technology as a tool of decision making in the process of development planning.
- The Geographic Information System has not yet been considered essential components of the subjects dealing with natural resources, environment, development planning and management at college and university levels, and as a result, this technology is yet to be included in the curriculum in most of the universities in the country. Besides, there GIS completely absent at school level in the country. This is a great impediment in facilitating the wider application of the technology in the country.
- Both, the training and software which are essential for making successful and effective use of GIS technology in the process of development planning are highly expensive, and therefore emerging as strong obstruction in the way of the application of the GIS technology.
- The technical personnel available with the government departments are not very much familiar with computer technology, and as a result, they hesitate in making use of GIS technology which is not yet considered much user friendly.
Conclusions
It is clear from the above discussion that several initiatives have been taken, particularly by the key central government departments in India for the technological and institutional capacity building in a multi level framework for making use of GIS technology in the planning and management of natural resources by the government agencies at district and sub-district levels. A few districts of the country, like Naini Tal in Uttaranchal are now gradually realizing the usefulness of the technology in planning the process of development. However, it was observed that there are still a number of technical, financial, administrative, organizational and infrastructural constraints in facilitating the wider application of the technology by the target users.
These practical constraints in the way of the adaptability of GIS by the line departments could be removed by interlinking school and college education with the requirements of the development planning of the country and evolving low cost and more user friendly GIS technology so that the education department as well as the user agencies could afford for the hardware and software, and the government departments could pick up easily available trained human resource from the market.
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