Punjab News- Integration of data on GIS imperative for good governance: Suresh Kumar

Chandigarh, September 13, 2013: An awareness workshop on Geospatial Information System (GIS) in Punjab was jointly organised by Office of Economic Adviser, Department of Planning, Punjab and Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) Ludhiana in Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA), Sector 26, Chandigarh. It was presided over by Suresh Kumar IAS, Financial Commissioner Development, Punjab who is chairman of State Level Committee on GIS. The aim of the workshop was to generate awareness among the Administrative Secretaries about the GIS and its applications for Policy Planning.

Suresh Kumar, Chairman, while delivering the keynote address highlighted the need of GIS for State like Punjab for prompt decision making. He said there is an urgent need for integrated system on GIS for good governance. He exhorted all the departments to share every detail on this unique GIS to assist the government machinery for better planning and decision making. C. Roul IAS, Principal Secretary, Governance Reforms while appreciating the initiative of Department of Planning said that GIS will prove to be beneficial in generating and sharing of authentic and rich data which will further enable informed decision making and effective and pragmatic planning

Jaspal Singh IAS, Secretary Planning while welcoming the participants highlighted the importance of GIS and requested various departments to send their specific requirements related to GIS which will enable the Planning Department to formulate an integrated plan for GIS. Mohan Lal Sharma, Economic Adviser, highlighted the need of statistics for successful implementation of all IT and GIS related activities. He thanked the participants and also emphasised the need for strengthening the statistical cells in all the departments for regular and authenticated data for GIS.

The experts from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh made the presentations on GIS in the workshop. Brijendra Pateria, Director, PRSC, Ludhiana and R.S. Hooda, Senior Scientist, Haryana Space Application Center (HARSAC ), Hisar made detailed presentations on status of GIS work in Punjab and Haryana respectively. L N Sharma, Associate Professor, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh made presentation on GIS and its various applications. Jayant Poddar, ESRI India made presentation entitled GIS applications in India. Harvinder Singh, Joint Director and Monica Thind, Dy. ESA of GIS cell, also made relevant interventions.