A Management Information System to Plan and Monitor the Distribution of Essential Commodities in India

A management information system was designed and developed for the state governments in India to help them plan and monitor the distribution of essential commodities. The system was pilot tested in the field, and reports were generated on a PDP 11/70 computer system. We discuss one such report in detail to illustrate its usefulness. Essential to the acceptance of the system were several training sessions for administrators at various levels. Interestingly, some state governments have already begun to change their existing reporting system to incorporate major ideas in the proposed MIS.