Shimla’s good initiatives to be replicated in state

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 25

Considering the positive outcome of the initiatives taken by the Shimla district administration by launching the ‘Pehal’ programme aimed at bringing about qualitative improvement in school education and wide use of geo-spatial applications for sustainable development by the State Council for Science and Technology, these will be replicated all over the state.

This decision was taken by the Committee of Secretaries (COS) which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary VC Pharka.

The meeting was attended by all the Secretaries. Three presentations were made by Rohan Thakur, Deputy Commissioner Shimla; Sandeep Kumar, Director Town and Country Planning (TCP); and Kunal Satyarthi, Joint Member Secretary in the State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.

Tarun Shridhar, Additional Chief Secretary, Power, Revenue and Personnel, said it has been decided to make wide use of these good initiatives and use of geo-spatial applications.

‘Pehal’, the brain child of Shimla DC Thakur, has received wide appreciation for its good results. The five areas identified under ‘Pehal’ are primary education, campaign against drugs, health and sanitation, forest rights and skill development and women empowerment.

The initiative also aims at building a resource base of semi-skilled and skilled women. Under ‘Pehal’, empowering the people with requisite skills under the livelihood mission includes basic masonry, electrical work, home appliances’ repairing and plumbing courses.

The TCP Department too has launched several online services for filing applications, their tracking, sanctions and digital store. Considering the fact that online services and digitisation are key to good governance, the department has made it convenient for people to apply online, make online payments, track status of their application, get online sanction and also get SMS and e-mail alerts to follow their case online.

Satyarthi made a presentation at the meeting on the uses of Aryabhatta Geo-Informatics and Space Application Centre (AGISAC). The service was launched in 2011 to facilitate the use of geo-informatics for the purpose of developmental planning and decision-making.

The facility has multiple uses like providing services or consultancy based on specific user in the field of remote sensing and GIS. This can be very useful for forests, public works, agriculture, horticulture, industry and other such departments as a complete data bank can be prepared for planning and policy formulation.