Second UN World Geospatial Information Congress begins

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on the need for an institutional approach by the international community to help each other during a crisis.

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on the need for an institutional approach by the international community to help each other during a crisis.

Virtually addressing the Second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC 2022), which began here on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said geospatial technology has been driving inclusion and progress in national development projects like SVAMITVA, PM Gati Shakti master plan, JAM Trinity, etc.

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The Prime Minister underscored the endless possibilities that geo-spatial technology offers. “We have been working on a vision of Antyodaya which means empowering the last person at the last mile, in a mission mode” the Prime Minister said.He further said sanitation facilities were taken to 110 million families and tap water connections to over 60 million families, he added, underlining that “India is ensuring no one is left behind.”

He expressed his wish that this conference becomes a platform to discuss developments in such important areas. The five day conference is being hosted by Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology and convened by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management. The Second UNWGIC 2022 will reflect on the importance of integrated geospatial information infrastructure and knowledge services to support implementation and monitoring of sustainable development goals.

Union Minister for Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh said that the Rural Development Ministry had mapped over 45 lakh km of rural roads by using 21 data layers of the map, which has digitized information regarding water bodies, green areas, plots, and other structures essential for administrative purposes.

He also informed that nearly 2.6 lakh gram panchayats had been covered by the Ministry under the scheme of mapping and digitization. The Minister said, evolving technologies in geospatial sector has brought about transformational changes whereby even an inch of a land in India can be mapped, thereby providing solid backups for Indian land reforms.

The geospatial economy was expected to cross Rs 63,000 crore by 2025 at a growth rate of 12.8 per cent and to provide employment to more than 10 lakh people mainly through Geospatial start-ups, he said.