Distributed Collaboration Model for Rural Development Planning

Please cite this article in press as: Adinarayana, J., et al., GramyaVikas: A distributed collaboration model for rural development planning, Comput.
Electron. Agric. (2008), doi:10.1016/j.compag.2007.12.008
ARTICLE IN PRESSCOMPAG-2084; No. of Pages 13
computers and electronics in agriculture x x x ( 2 0 0 8 ) xxx–xxx
available at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compag
GramyaVikas: A distributed collaboration model for rural
development planning
J. Adinarayana∗
, S. Azmi, G. Tewari, D. Sudharsan
Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 28 November 2006
Received in revised form
21 November 2007
Accepted 9 December 2007
Keywords:
Distributed collaboration
Geo-Information & Communication
Technology
Geographical Information Systems
Needs assessment
Open source software/content
management system
Rural development planning
Rural extension community
a b s t r a c t
In the context of rural India, planning is mainly prescriptive (through mandated schemes)
and top–down (by extension community from the line departments). Realizing the above
mode of planning and the increasing demand for Geographical-Information & Communica-
tion Technology (Geo-ICT) applications in the rural systems in India, a prototype distributed
collaboration tool, called GramyaVikas (rural development), has been developed to assist
the rural extension community in their own decision-making processes in a more interac-
tive, integrated and coordinated manner. GramyaVikas, evolved out of the needs assessment
of the user community, is a secure and cost-effective system developed for defined users
with open source (a) content management system and (b) Geographical Information Systems.
This web-based tool will help the users to share and retrieve data/information; communi-
cate for taking mutual decisions; make useful queries on spatial and nonspatial database
to identify candidate villages/entities; and generate various views or scenarios for different
rural development schemes. Presently, this Geo-ICT tool is being developed in an Intranet
environment. The resulting system is intended to assist the remote users in analyzing rural-
informatics for rural development planning decisions online, with customized GIS tools to
suit the requirements of a few line departments for decision-making.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Background
The national planning process of India has undergone many
changes since its initiation in 1951. Decentralized plan-
ning is currently accepted as the national planning strategy.
Toward this end, the Constitution has been amended (73rd
Amendment Act, 1992) to empower the State Governments
to form Institutions of Local self-Governance (ILGs) (like Pan-
chayats, a local-level governing body with a nearby group of
villages) and to take into consideration the local needs and
conditions for decision-making. The mandate of such local
level bodies is to plan and implement integrated development
schemes. Such planning, based on equity and popular partici-
pation by the planners and professional staff of line ministries,
∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 22 2576 7689; fax: +91 22 2572 3190.
E-mail address: adi@iitb.ac.in (J. Adinarayana).
is expected to result in an overall improvement in the quality
of rural life, conservation of resources and reduction in dis-
parities. However, this task is made more difficult by the strict
sectoral structure of government activity and formal informa-
tion about natural resources, socio-economic conditions and
infrastructure facilities in the districts. Implementation of this
type of local level planning requires a detailed knowledge of
the relationships and dependencies between various sectors
to resolve the often conflicting demands. Although there has
been data and information dependency for taking decisions
on mutual schemes, there is, in general, no coordination and
interconnectivity among the line departments (government
agencies at district and sub-district levels, represented by
various ministries). In this context, Geographical-Information
0168-1699/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compag.2007.12.008

2 computers and electronics in agriculture x x x ( 2 0 0 8 ) xxx–xxx
& Communication Technology (Geo-ICT) has demonstrated
its effectiveness as a tool for information gathering and
dissemination in many decision-making processes for rural
development, almost in a real time mode.
Geo-ICT is an enabling technology that is stemmed from
the integration of geospatial information and imaging tech-
nology with ICT. It is considered as a core technology in the
21st century for spatial decision-making, geo-computation
and location-based services (LBS) (GeoICT Lab, 2007). Geo-
ICT encompasses synergy and convergence of various modern
technologies dealing with the diverse aspects of spa-
tial and nonspatial and data management including: data
acquisition, data assimilation, data analysis, information gen-
eration/dissemination and decision support. As such, Geo-ICT
is generally considered a valuable tool for effective and
good governance at state, private or civil society (Beerens,
2006). Some of the major initiatives of the Government of
India in this regard are National (Natural) Resources Infor-
mation System (NRIS) of the Department of Space (NRIS,
www document), GISNIC/DISNIC (Geographical/District Infor-
mation System) of the National Informatics Centre (NIC,
2005) and the Natural Resources Data Management System
(NRDMS) of the Department of Science & Technology (NRDMS,
www document). These are primarily meant for setting up dis-
trict level databases to facilitate the use of Geo-ICT in local
level planning and governance.
Examples showcasing the open source GIS solutions for
Internet-based applications are as follows: (1) representing
the animal population census and large volumes of live-
stock disease data as dynamic thematic maps (TNV&ASU,
www document) and (2) map browsing, querying and drawing
thematic maps dynamically for rural decision-making (NIC,
www document). Vision 2020 conceived by the Indian Plan-
ning Commission has emphasized upon India evolving into an
information society and knowledge economy built on the edi-
fice of ICT, and shifting the determinants of development from
manufacturing to services and capital resources to knowledge
resources (Science and Technology Policy, 2003). Concerned
authorities are also taking initiatives towards cyber extensions
in India. District level Web Sites are being hosted, Informa-
tion Kiosks are being established at Block or Mandal (cluster
of villages) and village levels; and technical and other need-
based information are being collected, digitized and hosted on
the Internet (Sharma, 2006). The Extension Reforms Scheme
is a centrally sponsored scheme approved by the Government
of India – “Support to State Extension Programs for Extension
Reforms” – prepared during the Tenth Plan period (2002–2007).
This scheme is a major initiative towards revitalizing agricul-
tural extension services in the states to make the extension
system decentralized and demand-driven (MANAGE, www
document). The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
has a big plan through its “National Agricultural Innovation
Project (NAIP)” sponsored by the World Bank to strengthen
the information, communication and dissemination systems
(ICDS) for a wider dialog and interaction within the system
and among the stakeholders (ICAR, 2006).
Miller et al. (2003) has demonstrated the Geo-ICT appli-
cation for rangeland watershed management. They have
developed an Internet-based Spatial Decision Support Sys-
tem (SDSS) for the rangeland managers to select the type
and location of best management practices. Office of the Arid
Land Research (OALS) at the University of Arizona provides
web resources for rangeland natural resource managers and
decision makers; including interactive tools that illustrate and
map vegetation dynamics across large areas over time. These
tools incorporate satellite imagery and digital maps in ways
that complement traditional rangeland management tools,
such as, field-based inventory and monitoring techniques
(University of Arizona, 2004).
Krishna Reddy and Ramaraju (2006), developed Infor-
mation Technology based on a personalized agricultural
extension system, called E-Sagu, to improve farm productivity
by delivering high quality personalized farm-specific agro-
expert advice in a timely manner to each farm, at the farmers’
doorsteps, without the farmers asking a question. A multi-
lingual online question and answer forum, called “Almost All
Questions Answered” (aAQUA), provides online answers to
questions asked by farmers and agriculture professionals over
the Internet (aAQUA, 2002).
Considering the current rural development planning by
the rural extension community in Indian districts, and the
increasing demand for Geo-ICT applications in the rural
systems in India, an R&D project titled “GIS based Rural Devel-
opment planning at District/Sub-district level” was taken up
under the auspices of the Ministry of Rural Development, Gov-
ernment of India. One of the objectives of the project was to
develop an online tool to assist the rural extension commu-
nity in Indian districts in their decisions for rural development
planning.
1.1. Needs assessment
To test and validate the concepts of Geo-ICT for rural devel-
opment planning in Indian districts, a drought-prone district,
called Mahabubnagar, representing a semi-tropical region in
the southern part of India was selected. After establishing
working relationships with the rural extension community
and the district administration, a needs assessment exercise
was carried out in the form of discussions (with the decision
makers in groups and individually with each line department),
by formulating questionnaires (Table 1) and workshops. This
exercise was to grasp the requirements of the district planners
or functionaries in terms of the type and nature of databases,
so that a suitable GIS or Web system could be developed for
use in their day-to-day decision-making on planning, imple-
menting and monitoring of rural development programs in
their jurisdiction. As a part of this exercise, in collaboration
with the District Administration of Mahabubnagar District,
a User Interaction Workshop, titled “Needs Assessment for
the Development of Rural-Informatics in Decision-making
at District/Sub-district Level”, was organized at the district
headquarters (http://www.csre.iitb.ac.in/adi/projects/adi-
workshop.htm). One of the important observations and
common requirements of the district planners was to have an
online system to carry out mutual schemes in a collaborative
way (distributed collaboration) as many of these man-
dated schemes are inter-dependent and inter-departmental.
GramyaVikas is an attempt towards achieving this objective.
As this model is attached to the rural extension community
for taking decisions on rural development aspects, the model

computers and electronics in agriculture x x x ( 2 0 0 8 ) xxx–xxx 3
Table 1 – Questionnaire format for assessment of user
needs
• Name of the department and contact details of the Head of
the Department (including email)
• Major policies/objectives of the department
• Rural development planning/programs and procedures
presently carried out by the department
• The data (spatial/non-spatial)/information currently used by
the department for various rural planning programmes
• Data and new procedures that would be required by the
department for the modified specifications
• Modifications the department would like to introduce the
procedures, given the GIS system
• Availability of hardware/software in the department, for
various rural development programs (particularly on Remote
Sensing and GIS)
• Capacity of the department to handle the
computers/software (particularly on Remote Sensing and
GIS)
• Your expectation from this research project
• Any other suggestions for improving the informatics culture
in the district
is christened “GramyaVikas”, which means rural development,
in several Indian languages.
This dynamic and interactive GramyaVikas model is a
sequel to the simple, but static (using HTML maps) model,
“WebLUP (web-based decision support system for rural land
use planning)” (Adinarayana et al., 2006), designed to assist
the rural extension community in Indian districts. WebLUP
attracted feedback and initial interest from other academi-
cians and land use planners and provided an opportunity
for those in similar ventures to collaborate with each other
within India and abroad. The insights from the above
model and related interactions also helped in modeling
the distributed collaboration rural-informatics model for
decision-making.
1.2. Existing decision processes
The goals of rural development planning are to optimize
production of food, raw materials and fuel, and maintain envi-
ronmental services, including supply of water and disposal
of wastes. This will depend on the stability and resilience
of the land system. Although the rural development plan-
ning is prescriptive and top–down, in reality, the decisions
are made locally by the actual landowners and managers,
according to their own knowledge and priorities. The planning
system, as mentioned elsewhere, operates through interven-
tions in the form of development schemes; notably those
concerned with the development of infrastructure. The pro-
posed Geo-ICT project is aimed at Government officials at the
district/sub-district level, who are supposed to make plans and
take appropriate actions.
During the needs assessment study carried out in the dis-
trict, Officers showed difficulty in articulating their needs,
through a number of specific requirements emerged from the
discussions. One of the most important and common require-
ments from all the users was to identify an area of schemes
for rural development planning by various line departments.
This need for assistance in the local implementation of
schemes reflects the current transitional system of rural devel-
opment planning in India—somewhere between the central
direction and the local initiative.
Long experience has shown that any system or tool will be
successful only if it, in the first instance, supports the existing
decision-making process (Adinarayana et al., 2000), and will
be accepted if it assists the decision makers to do their job
more accurately and easily. Later, the same can introduce new
ways to view the decision-making process. For this reason,
an understanding of how the decisions of identifying sites for
development schemes are actually taken is a part of the design
of this Geo-ICT tool.
Each scheme is bound by government policies, which have
social, economic, and biophysical dimensions. The policy is
enshrined in the directives that establish the scheme and
these commonly lay down the criteria for site selection. For
example, the National Watershed Development Project for
Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA) lays down four criteria that <30%
area is irrigated; average rainfall is <750 mm; no other schemes
have been implemented and size of a watershed for this
scheme is about 10,000 ha. However, site selection according
to these criteria is not as straightforward as it may appear.
The physical criteria actually reflect the political intention to
benefit the disadvantaged. Also, the concept of a watershed is
not strictly hydrological; there are no standard maps of water-
sheds, and interestingly, sometimes they are only delineated
once they are identified.
This web-based DSS approaches the problem stepwise.
First, a topographic base is prepared within the GIS from
the digital 1:25000 Survey of India topographic sheets. The
boundaries of hydrological watersheds are drawn manually to
produce watersheds of the required size and these boundaries
are digitized within the Geographical Information System
(GIS).
Within any watershed, there would be about 20 sub-
watersheds, each of 500 ha, which may be considered the
primary planning unit because they are small enough
for concerted interventions. They must be ranked in
order of priority for interventions. In the absence of
GramyaVikas, subwatersheds are delineated, again without
a specific methodology, and local field staff would recom-
mend subwatersheds—preferring those with a range of land
types, so that many departments can be involved, partic-
ularly those with the most severe physical and/or social
problems.
2. Objectives
The major objective of this distributed collaboration model
is to assist the rural extension community in the Indian
districts in their prescriptive planning (through mandated
schemes/programs) to:
(1) share, store and disseminate spatial and nonspatial data;
(2) communicate between the users and user organizations;
(3) make useful database queries and generate the required
thematic maps for mutual decision-making; and

(4) give increased ﬂexibility or autonomy in decision-making,
interconnectivity and new coordination and interaction
styles between people and/or organizations.
3. Tools used in GramyaVikas
GramyaVikas is built on a Server side strategy, relying on the
server to process all client requests. Hence, it requires a high
performance server for computation intensity and to handle
network congestion, as each operation requires communica-
tion with the server. However, users have access to large and
complex data sets and as the client machines perform com-
paratively lesser processing, users are not required to have
sophisticated computers (Foote and Kirvan, 1997; Peng, 1997).
The web-based GramyaVikas is designed with an open
source content management system (CMS) and GIS to take
advantage of avoiding redundancy in database and installing
costly database analysis systems in the user-end machines.
The tools used in GramyaVikas are described below:
3.1. Open source content management system
Extensible open source web-based CMS, Plone, is used in
GramyaVikas. Plone is written in Python programming lan-
guage, and licensed under the General Public License (GPL).
GPL is a common Open-source license that allows anyone
to use the source for free. Plone is a group (free) ware that
can be installed on different platforms, including Linux, Win-
dows, Mac OS X, Solaris, and can be used either on Intranet
or Internet. Plone uses Zope as its application server, which
in turn uses Zope’s robust Content Management Framework.
The basic functionalities of Plone are User Management, Data
Management and Event Management. Plone can interoperate
with most relational database systems, either open source or
commercial (Mckay, 2004).
3.2. Open source GIS
ALOV MAP/TM JAVA is a free, portable Java® applet for publish-
ing vector and raster maps through Internet and interactive
viewing on web browsers. It supports complex rendering
architecture, unlimited navigation, and allows working with
multiple layers, thematic maps, hyperlinked features, and
attribute data (ALOV, 2002). Commonly used ArcMap (*.shp)
and MapInfo (*.mif) ﬁles are supported in the vector module;
and in the raster module it has the facility to support vari-
ous formats like tiff, jpg, and so on. It can also be customized
to address user needs, and importantly, spatial queries are
possible in this.
ALOV MAP GIS interface embedded in Plone, is built on a
client-side strategy, makes it an “integrated web interface”.
This thick client architecture provides more functionality to
the user with less server interactions and is comparatively
faster than the server technology, with fewer requests to the
server (Plewe, 1997).
4. GramyaVikas architecture and
functionality
4.1. Architecture
As with most content management systems that are driving
the Web 2.0 industry, Plone has the following capabilities that
create a secure and interactive service:
• User/event management
Fig. 1 – Basic structure of GramyaVikas.

Fig. 2 – Home page of GramyaVikas.
(a) Webmail/Blog/Chat/Departmental (inter/intra) Commu-
nication.
(b) Learning repository.
(c) Feedback.
• Data management
(a) Digital database.
(b) Google maps.
(c) Database query.
The modules are designed to suit the requirements of
the novice rural extension community in the Indian dis-
tricts, for rural development planning. The basic structure,
elements/modules, and the home page of GramyaVikas are
depicted in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively.
4.2. Functionality
4.2.1. User/event management
GramyaVikas is a secure system with a different set of users
restricted to different permission levels based on their individ-
ual roles. The administrator is the super user who monitors all
the activities in the system and has all the rights to change the
user rights, and so on. Group management is possible in the
system with Plone, which allows similar types of operations
for a set of users. Modules under the user/event manage-
ment component basically help the user to (1) communicate
(within/outside the department), (2) learn the technologies
involved in Geo-ICT and rural development, and (3) feedback
for liaison and suggestions.
4.2.1.1. Communication. This module, through Blog/Chat/
Departmental Communication, plays an important role in
rural development planning. This module also contains con-
ﬁgurable Webmail service, by way of which Users can conﬁgure
and view their email and communicate through GramyaVikas.
In this module, users will have the privilege of sharing their
views, ideas, plans, issues/topics, methodologies, problems
and so on, which are involved in the rural development
schemes or programs. Users can virtually discuss various
issues instantly without actually meeting anyone, and in
turn enable the sectoral system to take decisions mutu-
ally. Web-based bulletin boards can be posted to know the
current events occurring in rural organizations. Posted bul-
letins/circulars can be highlighted with links when the user
Table 2 – GIS database available in digital database
module
Base map (from 1:25,000 scale topographical maps)
Administrative boundaries (from mandal to cadastral level)
Topography
Land use/cover from Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS)
P6 LISS IV sensor
Hydro-geomorphology
Road, settlements, infrastructure
Drainage network and water bodies
Climate
Watersheds (of 500 ha)
Priority watersheds (based on the extent of wastelands and
underprivileged people)
Census 2001 (socio-economic and biophysical dimensions)

Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Adinarayana,J.,etal.,GramyaVikas:Adistributedcollaborationmodelforruraldevelopmentplanning,Comput.
Electron.Agric.(2008),doi:10.1016/j.compag.2007.12.008
ARTICLEINPRESSCOMPAG-2084;No.ofPages13
6computersandelectronicsinagriculturexxx(2008)xxx–xxx
Table 3 – Existing workflows versus GramyaVikas
Sl. no. Department Decision Expert’s opinion Current way of
decision-making
With GramyaVikas
1 Agriculture Crop Statistics Chief Planning
Officer, Mandal
Revenue Officer,
Irrigation
Department
Obtain information
from Census data in
nonspatial mode
Queries can be made from the updated Census data from
Census module, and views can be generated with Database
Query module, on various physical and socio-economic
dimensions for better decision-making
2 Agriculture Priority watersheds
for rehabilitation
District Water
Management
Agency (DWMA)
Obtain paper
watershed map, field
survey to identify
areas for
rehabilitation
Basic spatial maps available in Database module, which can be
updated with real world coordinates.
3 Forestry Land availability for
terrestrial/social
forestry
From the parent
department’s remote
sensing and GIS
experts
From the archives Recently acquired remote sensing data can be uploaded to
generate updated availability of areas for
rehabilitation/reclamation
4 Revenue Tax collection from
farmers
– Extensive field
surveys
Parcel-level owner and crop history information from the
parcel database in a nonspatial mode and updated land cover
information from remotely sensed data
5 Irrigation Department Silt yield of irrigation
tanks/lakes
Native hydrologists Field
models/surveys
Qualitative turbidity levels of water bodies can be obtained
from remotely sensed data silt yield-simulation models can be
bolted on to the system for automation

opens the GramyaVikas home page. In addition, a calendar pro-
vided in GramyaVikas can be used to highlight the upcoming
events in the organization.
4.2.1.2. Learning repository. This module has been embedded
in GramyaVikas to enable the users to learn about basic and cut-
ting edge technologies, various developmental issues, policy
documents and such like. This module could possibly serve as
a first step towards the initiatives of the Government of India
on e-learning in rural systems, and would increase the out-
reach to the vast community of learners spread geographically
throughout the district. The contents in this module serve as
a self-capacity building module.
4.2.1.3. Feedback. This module is a liaison between the user
and the developer for any system/database updates, solving
system problems, improvements, etc.
Two of the important issues raised under the user/event
management modules are: discussion on digital divide within
the rural extension community in the district and suggestion
on the inclusion of Census Data and Google Earth modules to
download and view the high resolution satellite data of the
area of interest, respectively.
4.2.2. Data management
User/group management allows data encapsulation (making
the system secure with compulsory user logins) as well as data
abstraction (giving required rights to the users and keeping it
abstract).
Data management with Plone in the system is powerful
and easy to handle. Users with their permission rights can
easily view data, share files online and query the data and
databases. Searching for a file uploaded in the system or con-
tent is also possible using Plone, and data modifications and
manipulations can be easily done in the system. Tracking of
data is easier: when a certain part of the data is modified by
other users, it can be easily monitored and controlled by the
administrator.
Plone can be customized according to user needs and only
the required content can be used as a comprehensive system.
This allows the Plone users to be unaware of the complexities
of the system.
4.2.2.1. Digital database. It is designed for defined users only,
to store/share/retrieve the digital databases. A special priv-
ilege to share the database for a defined period within the
community is also provided in GramyaVikas. The system draws
together topographic data, satellite imagery, census data and
thematic maps, and processes them to computer compatible
formats; then it links them in a geodetic reference frame-
work (polyconic projection with WGS84 datum) to build up a
district/sub-district database. This module contains nonspa-
tial (census 2001) and spatial (in the form of thematic maps)
databases belonging to the pilot Amangal Mandal of Mahabub-
nagar district (Table 2). A sample spatial data infrastructure
of the Mandal is shown in Fig. 3, which depicts watersheds
of 500 hectares (planning unit for any watershed manage-
ment scheme), and their criticality, based on the extent of
wastelands for rehabilitation/reclamation schemes (for exam-
ple, the centrally sponsored ravine reclamation scheme). This
spatial data infrastructure (SDI) for decision-making was
developed with feedback from the District Water Management
Fig. 3 – GramyaVikas: screen shot of the digital database module: Identification of critical watersheds for preferential
conservation treatments, for reclamation.

Agency (DWMA) department and their involvement. While the
users are aware of threats/wastelands of the local systems,
they do not have spatial maps of the problem areas for reha-
bilitation/reclamation. This SDI is valuable in helping the user
community for the aforementioned development schemes.
One of the important spatial data infrastructures and its
corresponding non-spatial data included in the module is the
parcel data. This helped the sub-district level officer to under-
stand the standing crop, owner of the land and its various
biophysical, social and economic dimensions instead of refer-
ring to the records in the paper format (Table 3, task of the
Revenue Department).
4.2.2.2. Google maps. This module has been embedded in
GramyaVikas to serve mainly as a reference or ancillary data,
as it possesses free top-view, high-resolution satellite images
with useful functions like pan, zoom-in/out, etc. It reduces
ground truth collection to verify the land features in pre-
and post-satellite data interpretation methods. The user can
also have a synoptic view of the area of interest. If the User
downloads the Google Earth freeware, the functionalities will
increase: tilt and rotate the view to see the terrain in three
dimensions, place marks, vector boundaries and so on. Once
the data is streamed in Google Earth, the data could also be
viewed offline. In addition, the user can also add boundaries
of the area of interest in Google format for a more realistic
view.
4.2.2.3. Database query. The database query module in
GramyaVikas has the facility to make useful queries on non-
spatial data (2001 Census containing both socio-economic
and biophysical dimensions) for identifying candidate villages
for various rural development schemes. Nonspatial database
query is developed with MS Access/Excel in the back end
and a customized web interface, developed using JSP/HTML
in the front end. Deploying a open source freeware RDBMS,
called PostgreSQL, is intended in the future as it supports
both spatial and nonspatial data. This will probably make
the system more robust. The spatial query system is devel-
oped using Java/JSP/XML, with open GIS tool “ALOV MAP/TM
JAVA”, customized to add a few useful functions (such as,
zoom in/out, pan, on-click attribute information (identify),
label, measure, etc.), which will allow the user to visually
observe and make useful queries for decision-making. As the
spatial databases in GramyaVikas are in the common coordi-
nate system (geo-referenced), it will enable the user to locate
the required spatial entities necessary for various mandated
schemes. Once the authorized user first logs on to the sys-
tem, viewing and analyzing nonspatial (Fig. 4) and spatial
(Fig. 5) data is possible. Querying on maps of either village
(with cadastral details), Mandal (cluster of villages) or dis-
trict, provides a much realistic view to the authorities, to
visualize the content and the output. The users can then gen-
erate their own thematic maps, views and/or scenarios of
the selected area, for decision-making in their developmen-
tal programs. For example, if a scheme requires identifying
candidate villages on the basis of both socio-economic and
biophysical dimensions, the user can make a query accord-
ingly in this module and generate the corresponding thematic
map (Fig. 6). Similarly, at the cadastral level, user or district
administration or rural banks can make queries and gener-
ate thematic maps showing the parcels with different land
Fig. 4 – GramyaVikas: screen shot of the database query module—nonspatial database query.

Fig. 5 – GramyaVikas: screen shot of the database query module—district level spatial query.
Fig. 6 – GramyaVikas: screen shot of the database query module—mandal level spatial query to identify the candidate
villages for different schemes.

Fig. 7 – GramyaVikas: screen shot of the database query module—village (parcel) level database query to identify the land
use/cover features in parcels.
use/land cover features for administration or tax purpose
(Fig. 7).
Figs. 6 and 7 were actually generated at the instance of
the user community and in their presence during our inter-
actions. This generated considerable interest for GramyaVikas
and suggested us to generate various views such as different
crops with underprivileged people, availability of different irri-
gation facilities in the Mandal-level, etc., according to various
schemes. These views were subsequently stored in a Digital
DB module.
5. Discussion
Keeping in view the requirement of the extension community
in the districts, GramyaVikas is developed as an online system
with the above web interface. It is a secure system, wherein
only the identified users would be able to log in to share,
retrieve data/information and also to carry out simple queries
on spatial/nonspatial databases for better decision-making.
This facility in GramyaVikas enables the developers, in this
instance the Investigators, to gain the confidence of the user
community that the hard earned data/information/database
by different departments will not be allowed to be (mis)used
by unauthorized users.
The distributed computing system for mutual decision-
making purpose allows the user to interact with other data
sources and generate queries and thematic maps at the
required level of spatial data through a simple web browser
interface. This ensures that the maps need not be distributed
at different locations for obvious security reasons, but still
enable accessibility to the defined users. It will also reduce the
efforts involved in re-creation/digitization of maps or other
practical deployment difficulties. Further, the distributed
collaboration through the open source system enables concur-
rent use of different agendas and approaches in production,
in contrast with the more centralized models of development,
such as those typically used with commercial/stand-alone
systems. Narayanan and Raghunathan (2005), who developed
a dynamic model of GIS using open source tools, have demon-
strated that the system tries to leverage on the use of freely
available software from an open source domain to query and
draw maps based on the existing information system run-
ning at different locations. In addition, an open source content
management system (CMS) enables a variety of (centralized)
technical and (decentralized) nontechnical staff to create, edit,
manage and finally publish a variety of contents such as
text, graphics, video and so on. However, it is constrained
by a centralized set of rules, processes and workflows that
ensure a coherent, validated web site appearance (Content
Management, 2001). It also allows the users to communicate
through the same system using Webmail, Blog or chat.
Currently, GramyaVikas supports identifying the candidate
entities (village/parcel) for different schemes and assists the
rural extension community in their own existing decision-
making processes. However, future versions of GramyaVikas
are expected to provide information for identifying land
use problems and opportunities and assisting in the devel-

Fig. 8 – Holistic GramyaVikas model for rural development
planning.
opment of responses at the district/sub-district level. One
such example is to develop the Land Use Sustainability
Assessment (LUSA) framework (Adinarayana et al., 2000) to
a more robust web-based LUSA and move to GramyaVikas
for identifying threats/hazards with which the decision mak-
ers can design their own management packages to combat
the threats/hazards (the concept of threat identification and
management). Initially, the database will be manned by an
information specialist who can generate, on demand, analyt-
ical maps, statistical tables and input to different schemes,
to assist planning and decision-making. As a part of project
activity, district staff will receive software, hands-on train-
ing in GIS and the GramyaVikas interface as well as gain
access to the analyzed information. This will enable them
to contribute in a better way to their local and specialized
knowledge, for the development and application of the district
database. This Geo-ICT-based model provides advantages over
traditional/desktop applications: the application is centrally
located, thus simplifying distribution and maintenance; the
user can use predefined spatial/nonspatial database (or lay-
ers) allowing the uncertainty in data inputs; and it increases
the user base by reducing costs of access to users. The system
is flexible in adding/modifying the modules in future to suit
the developments in the planning process.
Typical tasks of a few line departments, their present
method of obtaining the information/data for decision-
making, and how GramyaVikas can make a difference to the
decision makers in rural development planning are depicted
in Table 3.
6. Conclusions
GramyaVikas, which evolved out of needs assessment and
is now being developed with the users’ involvement at
every significant stage, is a technology-oriented ICDS ini-
tiative for the rural extension community (policy maker or
district/sub-district level officer), in Indian districts for local
level e-governance and provides a model for a shared or
mutual decision-making environment. Presently, this dis-
tributed computing tool is being developed in an Intranet
environment, which can be further extended to the Internet
platform. The future resultant system is intended to assist
the user in analyzing the rural-informatics for development
planning decisions with a customized GIS tool, which will be
developed for a few important rural line departments on a
priority basis, with consent from the district administration,
to suit the requirement of their specific decision-making pro-
cesses. The resultant comprehensive GramyaVikas model is
presented in Fig. 8.
It is hoped that simple, low cost, project oriented, eas-
ily maintained and user-friendly tools like GramyaVikas have
the best chance of success in extending the existing rural
development planning system to the emerging policy of ICT
(Information and Communication Technology) or Web ori-
ented rural development planning, amongst the novice land
use managers in the districts. It is also hoped that it will attract
informatics culture in the rural extension community. It will
also allow the user to customize the map (for ranges, colors,
legends, titles, etc.) and get the output maps in the required
format. This Geo-ICT model will enable the involvement of
higher administrative authorities during any stage, which will
facilitate speedy actions/decisions.
GramyaVikas is a generic ICDS, and could be used in any
Indian district for the purpose of rural development plan-
ning. The model being the resultant product of several integral
technologies, such as, GIS, Remote Sensing and Content Man-
agement System, it will be helpful in centralizing the data
and finally managing it, which is the major concern for
any organization. File and data sharing with other extension
communities and the subsequent review in a coordinated col-
laborative manner, will reduce the data redundancy in the
sectoral district system.
Efforts are underway to improve the GramyaVikas model,
to make it a more secure, dynamic/interactive, user-friendly,
multilingual and holistic ICDS, to assist the interdependent
extension community in Indian districts on rural development
planning. GramyaVikas is unsophisticated from the design
point of view. However, this decentralized planning study with
Geo-ICT technology will help the user to progress towards a
local-level e-governance for rural development. Availability of
GramyaVikas-like tools and capacity building at different level
users may also serve as a prelude to the Open Series Maps
of the National Map Policy of India (of producing, maintain-
ing, and disseminating maps to the user groups) (Survey of
India, 2006) and National Spatial Data Infrastructure (avail-
ability of and access to the organized spatial data) (NSDI, www
document), at the community level rural development plan-
ning activities.
Distributed collaboration systems like GramyaVikas could
be a valuable and suitable Geo-ICT tool for rural extension
community in the districts for rural development planning,
which
• allows to store/share spatial and nonspatial data from dif-
ferent user agencies;
• serves as an effective communication system for mutual
decision-making;
• helps in reducing the data redundancy;

• assists in implementing mutual schemes;
• allows to incorporate local knowledge-bases from different
stakeholders for effective rural development planning;
• gives increased flexibility/autonomy in decision-making,
interconnectivity, new coordination or interaction styles
between rural extension community or organizations.
GramyaVikas is an attempt toward shifting Geo-ICT tech-
nology from doer to user, with a motto of ‘do-it-yourself’, and
improving the informatics culture in the districts.
Acknowledgements
The model is a part of the research work on ICT applica-
tions in rural development sponsored by the Department of
Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, Government
of India (under the TDET Scheme). The coordination, help
and informed-opinion from the district/sub-district authori-
ties of Mahabubnagar District in Andhra Pradesh is sincerely
acknowledged. Authors wish to thank Mr. Anand Vadlamani
and Ms. Mohor Bhattacharya, Graduate Students of the Cen-
tre for their help in non-spatial database query and editorial
assistance, respectively.
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