Role of Decision Making Models in District Scenario Planning

While a country is surging ahead from a developing country to the status of a developed nation, the term "Development" has a connotation, both in terms of macro-level or micro-level development. When referred at the country level it becomes macro-level development, while at districts, it becomes microlevel development. At the sub-state level, “District” is the basic unit for all administrative purpose and also consistent with the decentralized planning process prevailing at the grass-root. However, the planning and development at district level can be further subdivided into urban planning and rural planning. Urban planning basically focuses on urban areas for its planned development with proper land use. These activities are generally taken cared by respective Urban Development Authorities. Planning at rural level can further be zeroed down to village / habitation. As part of the Planning objectives, Rural Planning needs to reflect growth and social justice, as growth in the rural sector has been identified as the key to social and economic development. Development involves making decisions and informed choices amongst alternative possible development paths. Therefore, it is important that these decisions are made using the best information, methods and tools available in an effective manner. The information to be considered for planning may be of sectoral or non-sectoral in nature. Today’s scenario is focused on planning and each department plans for assigned limited sectoral development. However development of each sector is dependent on each other. For this purpose planners take decisions on the questions like Where, Why, How etc. When we talk about decisions, there are various decision models available to choose from depending upon the requirement. This paper deliberates the aspects of sectoral planning and the role of decision models in this planning process and its effectiveness with respect to planning. General Terms Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), Analytic Hierarchy Process, Goal Programming Data Envelopment Analysis.