Making local bodies more accountable for the implementation and review of works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Department of Rural Development has decided to introduce Geographic Information System-based tagging of all properties to be covered under the scheme.
Only locations tagged under GIS will be selected for works next fiscal.
The local bodies will soon appoint special enumerators to survey public and private land or properties earlier proposed under the MGNREGS for implementing various development works.
Officials with the Rural Development Agency say the GIS tagging will help all monitoring teams to understand the geographical nature of an area and the details of resources required for its development.
The details of developed assets and their comparison with other executed works for proper decision making in the future will be possible through the new system.
Asset system
According to officials, the implementation of GIS for the MGNREGS will help authorities to evaluate the progress of the work through a single asset information system across the country.
Sharing of ego-spatial data for better planning of projects between various States too will be possible with the new move. Directions have been issued to all local bodies to implement projects under the MGNREGS in only GIS-tagged locations.
In the first phase, 100 grama panchayats will be covered under the survey and tagging process.
The list of selected grama panchayats under each blocks has been published for the information of local body representatives.
Mobile app
A special mobile application will be used for entering the data during the GIS tagging process. An interactive Web-based GIS management system will make it possible for the storage of collected information and make it available for planners for analysing the project development or asset management.
