Novel e-governance pilot undertaken in Chhatarpur

A pilot project has been undertaken in Chhatarpur District Panchayat to
develop a suitable GIS-based facility Management Information System (MIS) named
as e-Gram Suvidha. The project is likely to be replicated by, the National
Informatics Center (NIC), an arm of the Union Ministry of Communications and IT,
in the state capital by the year-end. It will then be taken up in all the other
districts of the State.

A presentation of the system was made in Chhatarpur District Panchayat last
month and according to information provided by NIC spokesperson it was
appreciated by the people's representatives as well as the government officials.

The NIC spokesperson claimed that it was the first project of its kind in the
country. e-Gram Suvidha is a GIS-based decision support system which can provide
sector-wise thematic maps at the proverbial press of a key. Block-wise thematic
maps with panchayat, village boundaries on existing facilities such as middle
school, hand-pumps, transformers and markets may be viewed. Distance can also be
computed. Village profile for a selected village can also be seen. The system
facilitates query generation and output in the form of maps. The system also
helps identify suitable locations for the creation of facility based on norms,
which can be used for planning. Public administration through e-Governance has
seen fundamental shift in the manner in which the country is harnessing recent
advances in IT to drive its services. Initiatives by central and state
governments to introduce information and communications technology in their
operations are expected to usher in a more affordable, responsive and
transparent governance.

E-governance among others, includes all aspects of management and planning of
physical infrastructure that demands special emphasis on spatial (geographic)
component and here Geographic Information System (GIS) scores its importance.

Cyber News Service

(CNS)