1. Statistical Information System for Local Level Planning by Local Bodies in the District of Howrah, West Bengal. Pulakesh Maiti INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE KOLKATA

2. Planning for development invites four different types of activities  Formulation,  Implementation,  Monitoring during implementation and  Evaluation on completion.

3. To carryout each of these activities, relevant, reliable and timely information is needed at every stage.

4. The 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution of India have squarely laid the responsibility of Local Planning to the Local Bodies.

5. It stands to reason that information needed for such planning should also be collected and managed by the Local Bodies.

6. The present Five Year Plan of the state aims to make the planning apparatus more responsive to the tastes and endowments of the grass root through people’s participation and more flexible in dealing with local resource problems.

7. The rural and urban bodies have therefore undergone a qualitative transformation from being primarily administrative units with some responsibilities, they have now become planning units (with administrative responsibilities) integrated with the planning apparatus of the country and the state, responsible for economic development and social justice and local governments with wider powers and responsibilities.

8. The local bodies have to develop their own planning apparatus which can communicate with and is clearly related to the state and central planning hierarchies and hence, require to be strengthened in information gathering for local level planning.

9. The Statistical Information System has been developed for Decentralised Planning and have the following major components:  The database forming the ‘container’ of statistical information,  computer software to process the information;  statistical data – the actual ‘content’ of the system.

10. Some recommendations have been made on present data recording system need of availability of technology at the different Local Bodies success of SIS training of the elected representatives and also the policy executers on the newly developed SlS.

11. Expectations from the newly developed Statistical Information System (SIS) Expectations from the newly developed Statistical Information System (SIS)

12. Self dependency of the policy makers for making decisions to run the Local Government can be achieved through this Statistical Information System.

13. USE OF COMPUTERISED DATABASE CREATED BY THE STATISTICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (SIS) FOR LOCAL PLANNING AT THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF DECENTRALISED ADMINISTRATION

14. The Issues To Be Addressed Need of the Database Identification of Items of information needed for Decentralised Planning Data Management System Data Mining and Processing Major Heads of Information Design of the Output Format Continued……

15. The Issues To Be Addressed Different Categories of Information needed for making rational decision Basic Reports with information on the identified list of variables needed for planning at i) Gram Sansad level i) Gram Sansad level ii) Gram Panchayat level ii) Gram Panchayat level iii) Panchayat Samity/Block level iii) Panchayat Samity/Block level Statistical Information generated by SIS An illustrative list of activities related to Decentralised Planning

16. NEED OF THE DATA BASE For catering to the needs of local level planning by the rural local bodies, priorities have to be given on the following components: Widening of the scope of employment of the common people; Taking care of their health; Widening of the educational facilities; Establishment of social justice removing the discrimination of gender, caste and creed; Improvement of the infrastructure facilities. In view of the above, the database for the district have been prepared.

17. Identification of Items of information needed for Decentralised Planning The identification of variables was guided by the items stated under the 11th and 12th schedules of the 73rd and 74th Ammendments of the Constitution for rural as well as urban local bodies. Data formats were designed, keeping in view that each of them has the following properties: The identification of variables was guided by the items stated under the 11th and 12th schedules of the 73rd and 74th Ammendments of the Constitution for rural as well as urban local bodies. Data formats were designed, keeping in view that each of them has the following properties: Easy to understand; Concise; Amenable to computerisation.

18. Data Management System The Statistical Information System (SIS) software has been developed for storing the data. The system developed for this has the following features : The Statistical Information System (SIS) software has been developed for storing the data. The system developed for this has the following features :  The data collected during any survey period can be incorporated in the system.  The data once stored can be updated as and when required – updating in the sense of revising the data if necessary and also in augmenting the system through new data.

19. Display of the Structure of Data Management System

20. Display of the Structure of the Data Management System