The District is the basic administrative unit in the Country, and is a very important link in the chain of the Indian System of governance. The actual implementation of all development projects and administrative tasks starts from and is monitored by the district authorities.
Having shifted the focus of planning from macro to micro-level through decentralization, it has become necessary to improve planning at the district, sub-district (tehsil or block), panchayat and village levels. Socio-economic planning and plan management requires the availability of an extensive information system, based on reliable data, and employing modelling and forecasting techniques, to facilitate development and analyse policy options. Hence, the district administration needs effective use of information technology tools to develop a computer-based information system both at the macro and micro levels.
In view of this importance of information systems and databases, the National Informatics Centre launched its district level development programme DISNIC. Under this project, satellite-based computer communication (NICNET) facilities were established in nearly all the district collectorates of the Country with a view to develop databases in various sectors of the economy for planning and decision-making at the district level.
DISNIC sectors include agriculture, animal resources, irrigation, water resources, rural development, decentralized planning, fishery, industry, health, labour, social development, education, co-operation, civil supplies, forestry, revenue administration, calamity relief management etc.
The DISNIC programme is operational in all the 450 districts of the Country, and the various state governments and district authorities are participating wholeheartedly in this national endeavour of making information technology-based development a practical reality in the districts.