The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) platform is being expanded to incorporate social sector ministries to attain socio-economic progress.

Currently, 14 ministries and departments have already joined the platform, according to a statement from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).  

Some of the ministries and departments added to the project include — Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Post, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Women and Child Development, reports Mint.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the data related to infrastructure assets have been mapped on the NMP — with individual portals of these 14 ministries and departments integrated at the backend with the masterplan.

This data includes primary and secondary schools, colleges, primary health centres, district hospitals, health sub-centres, public toilets, dump sites, Anganwadi centres, fair price shops, Amrit samovars, and dairy locations.

The meeting held on 3 May reviewed the status of the adoption of NMP for social sector planning and the measures to be taken for data management.

The ministry said that each social sector ministry will develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to serve as guidelines for data management, which may be replicated by states.

Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary, Logistics Division, commerce ministry, meanwhile, stressed that for a wider adoption of PM Gati Shakti NMP, a comprehensive area approach planning should be focused upon.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has developed a mobile application called Poshan Tracker for the collection of data regarding Anganwadi Centers (AWC) under the Mission Poshan 2.0.

Further, after the mapping of the existing Anganwadi centres on the NMP platform, new areas were identified in terms of establishing new centres, based on the parameters like local population, habitat clusters, distance between institutions, and using the site suitability tool on the NMP.

The Department of School Education and Literacy is using the platform by identifying suitable sites for the opening of new schools through the use of the site suitability tool and mapping of existing data layers.