Locating rural social service centres in India

Abstract

This paper describes experience with application of operations research techniques in planning new roads and social service centers for the Dharampur area in India. The work involved designing a road network using a minimal spanning tree algorithm; selecting the number and location of the service centers to be constructed over a five year period using a set covering algorithm; and developing a schedule for the construction of the service centers using dynamic programming. Substantial economic benefits resulted from using the mathematical models. The experience shows that operations research models can be useful in providing an objective rationale for administrative decisions, thus playing an important role in the resolution of political conflict.