The 73rd amendment to the Indian constitution provided constitutional status to the Panchayats, a third tier of governance operational as units of local self-governance. Around 70 % of the total households of the country are under the ambit of Panchayati Raj System which through its three tier system serves as a platform for planning and implementing programmes for economic development and social justice in a decentralized manner. A Gram Panchayat being the basic unit of administration in the Panchayati Raj is vested with powers to carry out formulation of plans and their execution to address the local needs and ensuring socioeconomic development of its area. The conventional method of drafting plans on paper using a sketch or text is still prevalent in many panchayats across the country. Such plans without exact knowledge of the surroundings may not be accurate in dimensions or sometimes in position as well. It is also seen that a significant time gap exists between submission of plans, further actions and corresponding approvals in the process of planning. To deal with such problems there is a requirement of spatial information that bridges the information gap and a platform that captures the whole process of planning in an accountable and participatory way. Space based Information Support for Decentralized Planning (SIS-DP) is a project of ISRO suggested by Planning Commission (now NITI Ayog), which aims at digital empowerment of PRIs and citizens for developmental planning. It targets decentralization by including PRIs at all three levels in plan formulation and management. Conceptually the project focuses on: a. Preparation of spatial database that includes High Resolution Satellite Image (HRSI) , thematic data at 1:10000 scale for the entire country and other datasets from various line departments. b. Dissemination of prepared database to PRIs through web enabled environment. To fulfil this, development of a web portal known as Bhuvan Panchayat has been developed through which PRIs can access all spatial and non-spatial data and can prepare spatial plans for their own panchayats. Bhuvan Panchayat Portal, a web based single window for spatial and non-spatial data, offers enabling environment for Panchayat level planning & governance and aims at digital empowerment of society. The default window of the Portal is a map viewer that enables geo-visualization of satellite imagery for the entire country and can represent spatial details at Panchayat/village level. Moreover, various thematic maps (land use / land cover, drainage & water bodies, settlements, infrastructure - rail, roads, canal) generated at 1:10,000 scale along with administrative boundaries and slope layer can be overlaid on the satellite image. Various tools for navigation, measurement and visualization are provided to facilitate spatial analysis. The activity planning module in Bhuvan Panchayat Portal offers preparation of plans under 17 flagship programmes of Govt. of India along with other schemes of national/ state importance. A citizen can make use of spatial data layers and can propose plans under various schemes on the portal. These plans can be viewed, modified and consolidated at all three tiers of PRIs through the portal itself. The portal thus brings the whole process of planning online and helps information to flow unanimously to each participating unit. The present paper attempts the use of spatial data for planning towards digital empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) at grass-root level. This is aligned with Govt. of India's vision of e-governance and Digital India.
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