Intelligent Information

"There can be no substitute for technology if you want to keep track of poverty in a city and provide for the city's betterment, especially the slums", insists Pratima Joshi, director of Shelter Associates. The Pune-based NGO she heads has devised a method to employ a Geographical Information System (GIS) in mapping poverty and directing the information thus gathered toward urban development activities. Pratima was recently in Washington DC, at the invitation of the World Bank, to present a paper on this topic at a symposium on Urban Development for Poverty Reduction.
The Geographical information Systems are used to study slums and Maharashtra's municipal councils find new opportunities for civic improvement.
Very often we come across instances in our daily life where the lack of adequate information results in civic chaos and mismanagement. Take rehabilitation work for example. Development projects such as road widening, riverbed work, and construction of bridges leave hundreds displaced. But almost always, the rehabilitation work is haphazard because the civic authorities have little or no clue about the number of people being displaced or the exact number eligible for resettlement. There are other examples too - we come across settlements where the civic body sets up community services like common water posts despite the fact that the inhabitants there have individual tap connections. Fires breaking out in informal settlements claim more victims simply because the affected area is inaccessible to fire engines, and the lanes are not widened because clear geographical details of the area are not available.
All such problems, which eventually lead to wastage of manpower, efforts and resources, arise out of one major cause - the lack of current and comprehensive information about urban areas. And it is this lacuna that Pratima Joshi's team at Shelter Associates (SA) addresses with its use of GIS software.
GIS is a tool which allows one to use and analyse spatial information in conjunction with relevant socio-economic information, and is therefore an ideal basis for planning.GIS integrates spatial information (maps) with any other data one have collected. For example, a typical slum map will show the physical features of the area, but it does not say anything about the inhabitants and their demographics. So,the workers can be sent to collect the relevant socio-economic information about the residents and then superimpose all this on the plane-table map.This ensures that the slum no longer remains a mere blob on the map; it becomes a living entity with a name and a boundary. When one clicks on the boundary, a dialogue box appears which gives settlement information such as location, legal status, hazards due to location, facilities within and around the slum, main castes, religions, languages spoken, etc. A detailed map of each settlement, showing every house, manhole, water point, electric pole, etc is also incorporated. Household-level data is connected to each house on the map, so clicking up a house brings up a dialogue box of information about the residents.
Therefore, the GIS is not merely a mapping system, but a tool to query, analyse, and map data that will lend support to a more effective decision-making process and greater improvement in the field of urban development.

Rural Development in India

The Rural Development in India is one of the most important factors for the growth of the Indian economy.Rural development in India has witnessed several changes over the years in its emphasis, approaches, strategies and programmes. It has assumed a new dimension and perspectives as a consequence.

People in the rural areas should have the same quality of life as is enjoyed by the people living in the urban areas. Further there are cascading effects of poverty, unemployment and inadequate infrastructure in rural areas on urban centers causing slums and consequential social and economic tensions manifesting in economic deprivation and urban poverty. Hence, rural development, which is concerned with economic growth and social justice, improvement in the living standard of rural people by providing adequate and quality social services and minimum basic needs becomes essential.

India is primarily an agriculture-based country. Agriculture contributes nearly one-fifth of the gross domestic product in India. In order to increase the growth of agriculture, the Government has planned several programs pertaining to Rural Development in India. The Ministry of Rural Development in India is the apex body for formulating policies, regulations and acts pertaining to the development of the rural sector. Agriculture, handicrafts, fisheries, poultry, and diary are the primary contributors to the rural business and economy.

The introduction of Bharat Nirman, a project set about by the Government of India in collaboration with the State Governments and the Panchayat Raj Institutions is a major step towards the improvement of the rural sector. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 was introduced by the Ministry of Rural Development, for improving the living conditions and its sustenance in the rural sector of India.

The several schemes started by the Indian Government for the development of the rural sector are as follows:

• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY): This is a scheme launched and fully sponsored by the Central Government of India. The main objective of the scheme is to connect all the habitations with more than 500 individuals residing there, in the rural areas by the means of weatherproof paved roads.
• Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY): This was implemented as a total package with all the characteristics of self employment such as proper training, development of infrastructure, planning of activities, financial aid, credit from banks, organizing self help groups, and subsidies.
• Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY): This scheme aims at increasing the food protection by the means of wage employment in the rural areas which are affected by the calamities after the appraisal of the state government and the appraisal is accepted by the Ministry of Agriculture.
• Indira Awaas Yojana (Rural Housing): This scheme puts emphasis on providing housing benefits all over the rural areas in the country.

The government’s policies and programmes lay emphasis on poverty alleviation, generation of employment and income opportunities and provision of basic infrastructure and facilities to meet the needs of rural poor. For realizing these objectives, self-employment and wage-employment programmes continue to pervade in one form or the other.

Rural development can be richer and more meaningful only through the participation of clienteles of development. Just as implementation is the touchstone for planning, people's participation is the centre-piece in rural development. People's participation is one of the foremost pre-requisites of development process both from procedural and philosophical perspectives. For the development planners and administrators it is important to solicit the participation of different groups of rural people, to make the plans participatory.