In a bid to keep a close watch on construction and quality of rural roads and bridges in Jharkhand, Rural Works Department (RWD) taking a fresh initiative, has decided to monitor those projects through Global Positioning System (GPS). Officers sitting back at State headquarters will now be able to do both physical and financial monitoring of the project being undertaken at a far away distant place.
“We have already initiated the process of tender for the purchase of 200 smart phones which will be distributed among the officers of the department across the State. These mobile phones will also be GPS enabled thorough which actual time and location of the device and the picture sent from it could be easily detected,” said RWD Secretary MR Meena.
According to Meena, after the introduction of this system, officials will be bound to go on the site and physical verification of the project could be done effectively. An assessment of physical progress as well as the costing of the project could also be done easily through it, he added.
Officials will be asked to upload photographs of the ongoing projects in their areas from the site which would reach to the higher officials sitting at the headquarters within seconds. “Thorough these photographs, a complete assessment of the project could be done by the experts sitting at the state headquarters,” said Meena. There will be no scope for any kind of manipulation by the concerned officers at the site, he said.
Counting on the benefits of GPS, Meena said that through the introduction of this system, exact status and stage of the construction work could be easily made, quality of the roads and bridges could be improved and officials in the field will be bound to visit the site. Above all, it will also prove to be a great help to make further plans for the area, he said.
Furthermore, in order to bring in improvement in the condition of rural roads under Prime Minister’s Gramin Sadak Yojana, Meena said that six GPS based devices have been purchased through which tracking of the rural roads will be done in the State. Following the tracking of roads, GPS monitoring of the roads will be done so that proper monitoring through hi-tech means could be done.
“Initially, tracking of roads in Kanke block Rachi is being done as pilot experiment which will be further expanded to five other blocks — one each in Palamu, Giridih, Dumka and Chaibasa.