PM GatiShakti: A Game Changer or Just Another Scheme

A buzzword these days in the realms of public policy is the PM GatiShakti program. It is being hyped as a major initiative and is expected to be a game changer in India’s development, primarily in infrastructure and logistics. The scheme is talked about in National Logistics policy and gets referenced in all major announcements. Although many of us have heard about it, few understand if it is just grand packaging or if the program has the potential to make a change.

whenever we visited a relative’s place in the good old world that existed before the advent of technology, there was a letter with detailed instructions (even sketches) on how to reach their place. Despite that, we often ended up asking for directions. The process was inefficient and if one wasn’t worldly-wise, reaching the right destination on time was a challenge. In today’s age, we can just WhatsApp location and Google Maps or any other navigation software takes us there.

Technology has helped us become efficient in all our activities. While using any navigation software like Google Maps, we are harnessing a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) system. We plot data using its coordinates and then use technology to draw inferences from it.

The use of GIS in the government is not new. When I was a probationer in a district in 2008, I saw first how GIS technology was applied to scientific decision-making. The district had received funds for constructing new Anganwadi Centres (AWC). Earlier each elected representative was assigned a quota and she was free to decide where these will be constructed in her constituency. This time existing AWCs were plotted on a GIS map and a query was generated to see human habitations where no AWC existed within a reasonable distance. It was easy to understand which areas needed an AWC. GatiShakti will do the same thing but at a larger level.

The first work it does is to pool existing resource data into a common GIS portal. All central government ministries, corporations, state government and other entities are plotting their data on this common pool. Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) is the nodal institute coordinating this. Isolated GIS maps have existed but the GatiShakti GIS portal would be the biggest database of existing infrastructure. The GIS map further plots the planning and work that is going to take place in future. E.g., if NHAI is going to construct a highway in the next three years, the same would be visible to other agencies like Public Health Engineering which may adjust their projects like laying of water pipelines accordingly. Individual departments keep updating their data and the same is reflected on the central GIS map through an API, thus the data always remains dynamic.

Let us assume Railways is going to construct a new rail line. How to decide which route is most pressing? There may be a seaport far from any rail line or major industrial area where cargo is shipped by road for want of any better connectivity. One can generate queries on the platform and use the information to decide which will be the most promising investment. Once a route has been decided, a detailed project report is to be made. This needed physically visiting different land offices to collect land records, surveys for contour and applying for regulatory clearances. It took years to prepare the DPR and it had to be learnt the hard way that certain ecologically sensitive areas or dense human habitations could have been avoided. At the click of a mouse, entire land details, rivers to be crossed and the population that can be served by this rail line is available. DPRs that needed years to be prepared can be completed in a matter of weeks now.  

The GatiShakti can effectively reduce timelines and help in better coordination and planning. Government is a mammoth machinery and anything that improves coordination improves efficiency. It also helps that GatiShakti is collating the entire database at the central and State level on a common platform and nothing of this magnitude existed before. It is hoped that this tool will result in better infrastructure investment. As an incentive, the Government of India is promoting investments in infrastructure projects that meet the standards of GatiShakti and which improve overall logistics. States are being encouraged to select such projects funding for which will be provided by the government of India under its special capital outlay.   

So, will the GatiShakti program become a game changer for our country? In my opinion, it is just a tool and a tool is only as effective as the person who wields it. It enables policymakers to make informed choices decisions and implement them fast. Whether we will make good use of the PM GatiShakti program can only be judged by posterity.

PS: These are my personal views and I do not claim accuracy about the scheme. I do hope though that the general idea presented is true.

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