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identification of data sources, data collection by source of data, MoPR and include Members from the team from Maharashtra,
perspective of data for use at GP level, need for survey and new and the Members of the PDI Committee, who have worked on
mechanisms for getting meaningful data, putting in place a this and have the field experience and from NIC, the key person
standardized mechanism of data collection, open data, who will be developing the end to end technical platform for
validation mechanism, use of data for GPs in planning and use. Other technical persons of suitable level and with sound
monitoring, etc. The exact content and depth to which this goes technical knowledge and adequate time and commitment need
is dependent on the target group. The coverage is not only for to be involved. Strong emphasis is placed on this as this is a
the ERs in the GPs and the Gram Sevak and Data Entry new, evolving and needs to be grounded well. It involves a lot
Operator, but also for the Line Departments and SHG group of detailed and systematic working, while also considering its
and Mentors and Support group ( such as GP Facilitation Team importance needs the monitoring at a very high level in MoPR.
for preparation of GPDP). The UBA youth who are asked to
Following the first set of core group in the State, the next step is
prepare GPDP as per the UBA program, can be involved in this
to pilot it in different districts, and involve the RETCs/RIRDs.
through formal involvement of UBA or through local
A similar group of persons as for the core group need to be the
institutions and colleges by the District functionaries. GPs can
district level / Regional level groups.
also identify their youth who can be involved in this. The local
NGO, the NIRD Cluster unit group, are amongst the choices The next phase will be the coverage of all the GPs. Naturally,
for the data collectors. The fact that the system to be evolved the whole programme needs to be planned on numbers to be
includes validation and clear source identification, the data trained, timeline etc. State planning on this is required.
Involvement of the officials, in the whole process is a sine qua
collection team can be chosen from any of the above.
non. Including in the Officials, RD&PR as well as the Planning
In each State/UT, a core group to pilot the data collection work
Department, the Economics & Statistics Department, and State
needs to be first trained. This would be the main group that will
NIC would be desirable.
do all the groundwork and become the Master trainers for the
State. These Master Trainers must include select Panchayat The MoPR may consider to utilise the Capacity Building funds
ERs, Gram Sevaks, Extension Officers, BDOs, anchor from the for this purpose and suitably modify the Annual Action Plan.
SIRD, Technical person from NIC, Technical person from the Simultaneously, while training is going on, as the development
Economics and Statistics Department in the field. The State of the standardised data collection, APIs etc will also be
may include any others. Training Manuals need to be written happening, modifications to the training program will be
for this and all other concerned training. This perhaps cannot be necessary. Waiting to develop everything to its perfect level
done by NIRD, as they have not been involved in the PoC work would perhaps result in nothing starting. With basic
and field data collection done in Maharashtra. The training and programming and data collection and validation app in place,
entire program to institutionalize data collection needs to be the work can start. The PoC work done in Maharashtra stands
managed and led by MoPR, perhaps from its e-Governance testimony to the fact that the GPs can move forward and work
division. Development of Training Manual needs to be done by on the LIF and PDI, irrespective of the top-notch design.

PDI Committee Report - 2023: Data 45