GPS to track Plan schemes and projects

Thiruvananthapuram: PLANSPACE (System for Progress Analysis and Concurrent Evaluation), a web-based integrated information system for the monitoring of plan schemes, has been given a multimedia boost. A Global Positioning System has been integrated into the PLANSPACE-app. From now on, in addition to the hard entries of progress in schemes, there will be photographic and video proofs of a work in progress. In lay terms, the state's plan schemes and projects will now be under constant CCTV-like surveillance.

The decision to integrate GPS-facility into the PLANSPACE programme was taken at a high-level meeting convened by Planning Board vice chairman K M Chandrasekhar. In the first phase the multimedia value addition will be used to monitor the basic infrastructure works taken up by various departments. So along with the hard data of the plan progress, visuals too will be uploaded.

As of now, PLANSPACE provides real-time data about the extent of work completed on a construction site or the quantity of a particular item purchased or the number of courses done. “Now, you will get multimedia data of such information. Mere hard data will is in some ways opaque. You will not, for instance, know whether a particular construction is being carried out in the right place. A visual proof will do away with this disadvantage,” said Dr M S Rajashree, the director of Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management- Kerala (IIITM-K) which designed, developed and implemented PLANSPACE.

The software captures the relevant details about a plan scheme/project, its various components, physical and financial progress, implementation status on different intervals and generates dynamic, customized reports for various stakeholders. It also works as an online reporting tool for the departments to update their progress of implementation on various schemes. By providing real-time information, the system acts as a supporting tool for the government, the Planning Board, heads of departments, secretaries, ministers and the user Departments.