Digital Habitation Mapping in Jharkhand | 27 Nov 2025

Why in News? 

Jharkhand has rolled out Digital Habitation Mapping (DHM) to improve school infrastructure, monitor educational access, and reduce student dropouts by identifying habitation-level gaps. 

Key Points 

• About: 
  • Digital Habitation Mapping (DHM) is a state-wide initiative aimed at systematically assessing each habitation’s access to schools, transport networks, and essential public utilities. 
  • DHM supports the objectives of New Education Policy 2020 by promoting universal foundational literacy, advancing inclusive schooling, and enabling equitable allocation of educational resources based on real-time evidence.
• Key Features: 
  • DHM uses GIS-based, real-time visualization tools to map habitation clusters and the distances students must travel to reach the nearest school. 
  • The platform is integrated with UDISE+, ensuring that planning and decision-making rely on accurate, authenticated, and regularly updated school-level information.
• Planning and Focus Areas: 
  • Insights from DHM help authorities make data-driven decisions on establishing new schools, expanding hostel facilities, improving transport support, and upgrading existing educational infrastructure. 
  • The system strengthens micro-planning by guiding teacher deployment and ensuring the provision of essential amenities such as toilets, safe drinking water, electricity, and digital infrastructure. 
  • The initiative pays special attention to remote rural and Scheduled Tribe–dominated habitations, where scattered settlements and difficult terrain often hinder consistent school attendance and contribute to higher dropout rates.