About NATMO
- The origin of the National Atlas Organisation dates back to the year 1956 when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru approved its establishment.
- Professor S.P. Chatterjee, the doyen of Indian Geography, was the founder-Director of this Organisation.
- It was renamed as the NATMO National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) in 1978 to give the institution a broad based responsibility in the field of thematic cartography and geographical research.
- It is under the administrative control of the Department of Science &Technology of the Government of India.
- The main office or the headquarters is in the CGO building in Salt Lake (Bidhan Nagar), Calcutta.
- The first National Atlas of India in Hindi popularly known as Bharat: Rastriya Atlas having a 26 multi-colour maps with a scale of 1:5 million portraying a comprehensive physical and socio-cultural structure of the country was published in 1957 and was acclaimed the world over as a unique publication.
- It has approximately 75 officers and 387 staff members of different categories, viz. scientific, technical and administrative officials.
- A large number of highly qualified professional geographers, perhaps the largest number under one roof anywhere in the world exist in this organization.
- It also employs qualified statisticians, geologists, cartographers and printing professionals.
Major Functions
- Compilation of the National Atlas of India
- Preparation of the National Atlas maps in regional languages
- Preparation of thematic maps based on research studies on environmental and associated aspects and their impact on social and economic development
- Any other work entrusted by the Central Government or its agencies to NATMO
- Installation of automated Mapping System for increasing speed and efficiency in mapping
- Division of Digital mapping System & Digitized and Scanning of existing maps on digital format
- Geographical Researches
- Remote Sensing & GIS, Digital Image processing
- Division on Cartography for the Visually Impaired
- Capacity and Infrastructure building of NATMO to convert / to upgrade in digital mode
Source: dst.gov.in
