Planning and Monitoring Units to strengthen working at district level

With a view to strengthen the district planning apparatus and provide secretarial and technical support to the Department of Planning and Coordination (DPC), the Orissa government has decided to constitute a District Planning Monitoring Unit (DPMU) in each district.

The DPMUs have been envisaged as the existing planning apparatus at the district level is very weak and cannot provide the required support to the DPC. The proposed DPMUs will be under the administrative control of the DPC. A resolution to this effect was taken by the DPC on June 30.

The time-frame for establishment of such units is yet to be decided.

The rationale behind setting up of these DPMUs is to strengthen the planning and monitoring capabilities at the district and sub-district levels so that the constitutional provisions and guidelines are followed in letter and spirit.

The DPMUs are needed to provide secretarial and technical support to the DPC for preparation and consolidation of district and sub-district level plans for both rural and urban local bodies. The DPMUs shall also assist the DPC in monitoring the implementation of various development programmes which are undertaken in the district from time to time.

The DPMUs will also be required to prepare the detailed project reports for different development programmes. The onus will be on these units for collecting, analyzing, updating and maintaining the desired district and sub-district level databases and generating useful knowledge for local level planning.

These units would study intra-district and intra-block disparities in terms of key social, economic and human development indicators. In addition to this, the DPMUs will undertake such surveys and studies as may be considered desirable to facilitate preparation of local level developmental plans.

The DPMUs will function under the supervision of the respective district collectors who are the member secretaries of DPC and chief executive officers of zilla parishads. One of the additional district magistrates shall be designated by DPC as the Chief District Planning Officer who will report to and function as per the directions of the district collector.

The proposed DPMU will have two cells- General Planning Cell and Analytical Cell. The General Planning Cell shall be headed by the deputy director (planning & statistics).

This cell would have two sub-units- Planning Wing and Statistical Wing. For this purpose, 30 posts of deputy directors (planning & statistics) including the existing seven posts of deputy director (planning) will be created in the appropriate pay scale by way of upgradation of the existing posts of district planning officers and district statistical officers. The deputy director (planning & statistics) shall discharge the responsibilities of both the district planning officer and district statistical officer and report to the Chief District Planning Officer and the district collector.

The e as the Planning Wing of the General Planning Cell within the DPMU. The existing staff of the district planning office including the senior economic investigator, cartographer and others shall form part of the Planning Wing of the DPMU.

Similarly, the existing district statistical office shall function as the statistical wing of the DPMU. The statistical wing of the DPMU would be responsible for collection and analysis of such district and sub-district level data as may be considered desirable for preparation of district and sub-district plans. The available infrastructure, records, assets and liabilities of the district planning office and the district statistical office shall be transferred to the DPMU and remain under the charge of deputy director (planning & statistics).

The analytical support cell would be responsible for providing high-end analytical and conceptual support to the DPC and the other two cells of the DPMU.