Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Socio-economic survey completed

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation has completed the pilot phase of a ward-level digital mapping programme taken up with assistance from the London borough of Newham. The project is aimed at creating a community database for effective policy-making and resource management using modern tools such as Geographical Information System (GIS). It was taken up under a Twin City pact involving the two local bodies.

An official team from the Newham Council held talks with Mayor C. Jayan Babu, councillors and Corporation officials last week. The meeting discussed the possibility of using the facilities at Newham to train civic officials from Thiruvananthapuram in handling GIS data.

Under the mapping programme, the Centre for Environment Development (CED), a city-based NGO, carried out a field survey covering 2,000-odd households in the Kanhirampara ward. The baseline information generated by the survey was used to analyse the socio-economic condition of the households. The data was later incorporated into GIS maps. The Newham Council extended assistance of 30,000 pounds for the project. Kanhirampara was chosen for the pilot project because of the diverse socio-economic conditions in the ward.

According to Babu Ambat, executive director, CED, the digital maps would be a powerful tool in decision support, planning and targeted service delivery. He explained that the socio-economic data could be effectively utilised to formulate poverty alleviation programmes.

The team from Newham, comprising Head of Corporate Research Dhanwanth Rai; Council officials Salila Vipinchandran and Satbinder Sanghera; and India coordinator of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum Anuya Kuwar; expressed satisfaction with the results of the survey and the response from the Corporation. They said the data could be used to improve service delivery and streamline the functioning of departments.

“The survey underlines the importance of research data in policy-making at the local level. The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation can now take the programme forward and extend the survey to other parts of the city,” Ms. Rai said.

During the interaction at the Corporation headquarters, councillors demanded that similar surveys be carried out in their respective wards. “It will require a major capacity-building exercise for the data to be used for decision-making. The database will also have to be periodically updated. The Newham Council is willing to offer a hand in training officials,” Mr. Sanghera added.

The officials said the survey could also be fine-tuned for property tax mapping.

Asked about the demand to extend the survey to other wards, the Mayor said the financial implications of the proposal would have to be studied in detail. He, however, said the baseline information provided by the survey would be valuable for the Corporation in taking financial assistance. Most of the externally-funded schemes today insist on socio-economic data. Having such a database would obviate the need to take up surveys at short notice,” he said.

The Twin City pact was renewed in 2007 after being bogged down for more than two years by the failure to mobilise technical and manpower resources.

The twinning concept is promoted by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum.

Newham is one of the host boroughs in London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. It is an old dockside city emerging as a major business location in the U.K. The city has a Malayali expatriate population of over 12,000.

The Newham Council has an active programme to enlist public participation in the development process. The programme is driven by a network of community forums involving health trusts, police, youth, business groups, voluntary agencies and residents.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

IHRD course
Capital to host Octave
BJP demands Ministers’ resignation
Air India facing shortage of commanders
CPI(M) State panel approves report
A new political map for Thiruvananthapuram Delimitation impact
Housing project
IMA opposes move for guidelines on practice
Fresh challenges before Congress
No universal standard for regulation of patents: Ekbal
Preparations on for Attukal Pongala
Kathakali artiste dies on stage
Science exhibition
Union Minister’s statement incorrect: CPI(M)
Socio-economic survey completed
‘Exert pressure on Centre for Bench’
In Thiruvananthapuram Today

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu