Information, Monitoring, Evaluation and Social Audit (I-MESA): Evaluation and Studies

The scheme "Information, Monitoring, Evaluation and Social Audit (I-MESA)" was launched by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India. The "Evaluation and Studies" component of the scheme aims to establish institutionalized mechanisms for achieving transparency and accountability, generating lessons learned for real-time program improvement, and ensuring effective knowledge dissemination among stakeholders and targeted beneficiaries. The scheme provides for evaluation studies to be undertaken at regular intervals, preferably every two years, by reputed Agencies/Organizations or other Institutes.

Financial Assistance/Funding

Funds are sanctioned by the Ministry for approved evaluation projects covering a specified period.

Items Covered under Funds (Costs met by the Ministry)

• Salaries and allowances of the project staff of the study and honorarium for the Project Director.
• Travel expenses undertaken in relation to the project.
• Consultancy charges.
• Printing costs.
• Equipment and books.
• Computer and tabulation costs.
• Contingency and Overhead charges (Overhead charges are calculated up to 5% of the total cost of Personnel, Travel, Printing, Equipment and books, Computer and machine tabulation costs, and Contingency).

Fund Disbursal Installments

The funds are released in three installments

• First Installment: 20% (released after the receipt of Performance Security).- Second Installment: 50% (released on submission and presentation of the draft report).- Third Installment: 30% (released after acceptance of the report by the Department, along with submission of 8 copies of the final report, 20 copies of the summary report and its soft version, audited Statement of Accounts, and Utilization Certificate).

Conditions

• The successful bidder must submit a Performance Bank Guarantee issued by any scheduled commercial bank for 8% of the contract value.
• The Organization must execute a bond in favor of the President of India to abide by the terms and conditions attached to the funds.
• The Organization must maintain separate accounts for this fund, which will remain open to inspection by representatives of the Government of India, including the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
• The Organization must refund any unspent balance out of the fund within 30 days from the date of completion of the Project.
• Any unspent balance not refunded within 30 days, or funds required to be refunded due to failure to abide by conditions, will attract a penal interest of 15% per annum thereon.

For the Organization/Agency/Institute

• The applicant must have requisite qualifications to undertake evaluation studies of schemes and programmes of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• The applicant must not have been blacklisted.
• The applicant must accept all the terms and conditions of the Notice Inviting Tender, including commercial and general terms and conditions.
• The applicant must be willing to undertake the assignment in the given timeframe.

For the Project Director/In-charge of the Project

• The applicant should have the necessary experience in the use of statistical tools.
• The applicant should have experience in the social sector.
• The applicant should have at least 5 years’ experience of evaluation of studies on the social sector.

Offline

Step 1: Initiation and Invitation of Bids

• The process begins when the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment invites E-Bids/Bids or willingness from qualified Organizations, Agencies, or Institutes to undertake evaluation studies of its schemes and programmes.
• The Department may also consider limited tendering or selection on nomination basis depending on the specific need.

Step 2: Preparation and Submission of Technical and Financial Bid

• The Project Director/In-charge of the project must prepare the proposal, ensuring they possess the required experience (at least 5 years in social sector evaluation and experience in statistical tools).
• The proposal must be submitted through the head of the Organization or the Registrar of the University.
• The bidder must submit all necessary documents, including the Technical Bid, Financial Bid, Earnest Money Deposit (or proof of exemption), and an undertaking accepting all terms and conditions of the Notice Inviting Tender.

Step 3: Bid Evaluation and Notification of Award

• A Committee evaluates the received proposals, utilizing technical criterion parameters indicated in the Tender document to shortlist qualified bidders.
• Offers received without the Earnest Money Deposit are summarily rejected (unless exempted).
• The Department issues a Letter of Award (LoA) in duplicate to the successful bidder, briefly mentioning the rates, terms, and conditions.

Step 4: Contract Finalization and Initial Compliance

• The successful bidder must return one copy of the LoA duly signed as a token of acceptance, along with a contract bond and the Performance Security (Performance Bank Guarantee for 8% of the contract value) within the stipulated time indicated in the LoA.
• The Ministry then issues a sanction letter for the approved project, detailing the sanctioned amount for each sub-head of the evaluation study.
• The first installment of 20% of the funds is released after the Ministry receives the Performance Security.

Step 5: Project Execution and Progress Monitoring

• The Organization proceeds with the project execution, maintaining separate accounts for the sanctioned funds.
• The Project Director must submit progress reports to the Ministry along with certified statements of expenditure actually incurred and estimates for the remaining period.
• The Ministry conducts a monthly review of the project's progress. If the Organization delays the submission of the report by the due date, a penalty of 0.5% of the cost of the study per week will be levied.

Step 6: Draft Report Submission and Second Fund Release

• The Organization must prepare and submit the draft report to the Ministry upon completion of the preliminary findings.
• The Organization is also required to make a presentation of the draft report before the Ministry.
• Upon the submission and presentation of the draft report, the second installment of 50% of the funds is released.

Step 7: Final Report Acceptance and Final Fund Release

• The Ministry examines the draft report, and the Project Director is responsible for revising it if discrepancies are noted.
• After acceptance of the report, the Project Director submits eight copies of the final report, 20 copies of the summary report (along with soft versions), the audited Statement of Accounts, and the Utilization Certificate.
• The third and final installment of 30% of the funds is released after acceptance of the final report and submission of these required documents.

Step 8: Project Conclusion and Fund Settlement

• The Organization must preserve all collected raw data (such as filled in schedules, reports, photographs, etc.) in electronic form and transfer all raw data and ownership of the data to the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• Any unspent balance from the sanctioned funds must be refunded by the Organization within 30 days from the date of completion of the Project.
• The Organization should save a copy of all correspondence, reports, and financial documentation for its records.