Yashada will undertake GIS mapping of all districts

The Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (Yashada) will map all the districts in the state using the Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.

According to the director general of Yashada, V Ramani, the mapping of all districts would not only bring about transparency but also help in decentralised planning and better monitoring of all programmes.

Ramani told DNA a pilot project has been already undertaken for preparing detailed
GIS maps of Pune and Nandurbar districts. After completing the pilot project for the two districts, Yashada would undertake the same for the entire state, he said.

Director of research and documentation centre Sumedh Gurjar said the pilot project is scheduled to be completed in the next three months. The GIS mapping of the districts will include detailed information on health, education, nutrition, housing, employment and other aspects such as roads, rainfall, cropping pattern and sanitation.

Ramani said the project can be used by the police department as well as various other departments. He said that effective monitoring of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) can also be done by using the database.

The project would provide all the information of the district up to taluka level and a chronological data would also be made available through this project.  “With the data to be made available easily, it will not be possible to make tall claims about achievements,” said the Yashada chief.

Ramani said that he had conducted a similar project in his capacity as the director general of Rajmata Jijau Mother-Child Health and Nutrition Mission. Yashada, being a bigger organisation, has embarked upon this ambitious project. The software has been developed by Yashada and the consultant for the project is KK Pal from Riddhisoft (Kolkata).