Naharlagun: A One-day workshop-cum-awareness meeting on satellite-based monitoring and Geo-tagging of developmental projects in Arunachal Pradesh  was conducted at the DK convention centre, Itanagar on 25^th July 2019 by the Department of Planning,

Finance and investment in collaboration with the Department of State Remote Sensing Application Centre, Itanagar in which all the Chief Engineers and Directors of various departments actively participated.

          In his speech, Secretary Planning Himanshu Gupta while describing the need and importance of  Geo-tagging and monitoring,  told the participants that all the government schemes shall come under one common portal adding that the Planning Department will provide a one-stop solution to all the work departments for smooth execution and monitoring of government schemes.  He said that though Geo-tagging has been done by most departments, they are yet to be entered in MIS and urged all the departments to expedite the entry of the schemes in MIS. He assured the participants that the Planning Department would provide high-resolution satellite images of schemes being executed in the whole State adding that smartphones could be used gainfully to access to any information on schemes and also collect information. The Planning Secretary requested all departments to update Geo-Tagged projects for the convenience of all the stakeholders. He explained these intricacies of Geo-tagging monitoring through a powerpoint presentation.

          In her address, Secretary Finance Ms Y. W. Ringu, while thanking the Secretary Planning for holding the much needed workshop, opined that proper planning was of paramount importance for success of any venture adding that the introduction of satellite Geo-tagging had made the job of all the heads of departments much easy and convenient because they can monitor the projects in the field by sitting in the offices. She told the Chief Engineers and Directors to adequately train and keep their field staff updated about the latest technologies available that would facilitate smooth and efficient execution of government schemes. She said that whatever knowledge the participants had learned or acquired from the workshop should percolate down to the staff working in the field for the success of the government projects.

Earlier, the Director (Monitoring) Mokir Ori in his welcome address threw light on the objectives of the workshop and cordially welcomed all the participants and urged them to take the workshop seriously.

The subject Experts from State Remote Sensing Application  Centre, Itanagar in their powerpoint presentations dwelt at length on the various facets of Geo-tagging in monitoring.    Some of the important points explained by them were:-

Why Satellite Monitoring & Geo-Tagging?

1. To create a one-stop solution for better planning and monitoring projects and developmental activities in the State.
2. To create a single platform for data sharing amongst all stakeholders to facilitate decision support
3. To strengthen project execution and monitoring systems in the State.
4. To ensure transparency and public accountability
5. Geo-tagging of projects made mandatory by government of Arunachal Pradesh vide office memorandum No. PD(M)/MIS/Geo-tagging/2018-19/625-35 dated 19^th February 2019 and letter No. PD(M)/MIS/Geo-tagging/ 2018-19/613-19 dated 14^th May 2019.
6. Mandatory Geo-tagging projects had also been highlighted by Hon’ble Chief Minister in the State Budget 2019 speech.

Role Of A User Department:                

1. Get your project Geo-tagged by the respective field officer (JE/AE) from Mobile application.
2. Do the MIS entries Geo-tagged project from  Web-Dashboard
3. Download, print physical progress and project summary reports for submission to  Finance and   Planning departments for finance concurrence or release of payment

During the workshop, there was an interactive programme also in which the Chief Engineers and Directors got their doubts and queries clarified by the Experts.