Abstract:
Since the widescale adminislrati\'e reforms Introduced In 1982, the
Upazila Parlshad is now tile most important tier of local government
in terms of planning fUllclion~. The Upazlla Parlshad and the
government offices represenled at Ihat level have Important roles In
plannIng the course of developlllf'ni of thc upazlla. PlannIng Involves
the formulation of ralionnl decisions which cannot be done without
knowledge. which In lurn Is Ini"urm<llloll-b8Sed, lnlinmation Is a basic
resource and tool for the pbnneL Tt Is therefore Important to make
necessary informallon nvallablc In the platlfl[Ts. This has led to the
concept of Information syslelJl'S for plnnners. which has become
popular in Ihe developed ('ul1Jllrks and Is now gaining ground In the
less developed eounlril's Filso, 'Ibe p18.nnlng of our upazilas may be
facilJ1nted by the ilnpkmClltatlol1 of all infornlfl,Uon syslem. A village
based Information syslem \\iould be Illosl appropriate for upazila level
pla-nnlng. As a 'flrsl sil'p ["Winds evolving such n system, thE" data
requlrelllC'nt of upazila lcvd pbnllers were IdentlfJed In this study
mainly through an anal.\'sis of flit' nature of projects adopted by the
Upazila I'arlshads. An Inventory of lnforlll<llion colleell~d by dllTerent
agencies nl the upnzlla kl'r1 W<1Sprepared and gaps between
inforlllaUon requirmcnts and a\'81labllity were identified. Possible
lliethods and sources 01-dala {'ollectloll were prescrIbed. An overview
of the wllole system ilwillding Ihe clifferent modules of the system
were also suggestrd_
