Local area management and planning (LAMP) in India

To assist decentralised planning, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has taken the initiative to develop a computer-based spatial information system for planning and management of the natural resources at the district and sub-district level. At present ten district level database centres called Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) have been functioning in different geo-environments in India. The present paper discusses the experience of the Centre for Applied Systems Analysis in Development (CASAD). CASAD is involved in managing the NRDMS database centre at Bankura district and was associated with the development of DSS models in Kheda district. Finally, a few case studies on the use of Decision Support Systems (DSS) for decentralised decision making at the district level are discussed.