1. Background

1. The Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra, is preparing a forestry project viz. the Maharashtra Natural Resource Management Project (MNRMP) for seeking financial assistance from the World Bank. The project aims at forest conservation and development by addressing livelihood issues of forest-fringe communities with poverty alleviation in project area as the key development objective. A logical framework of the project outlining its goal, purpose, outputs and activities is given asAppendix I . The project is under preparation, yet to be appraised. The anticipated outlay is of the order of Rs. 600 crore with implementation period of about 6 years. The Project will be implemented by the Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra (GoM) in 14 identified districts. The Forest Department has set up a Project Coordination Unit (PCU) in the office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) at Nagpur.

2. The Forest Department has a fairly extensive administrative set up for programme implementation and supervision. The Conservators of Forests (CFs) perform the normal supervision functions. The Department has an internal unit viz. the Central Evaluation Unit (CEU) with headquarters at Nagpur and 6 zonal offices, for evaluation of schemes. Keeping in view the unconventional development objectives associated with this project it is considered expedient to formulate a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Work Plan for MNRMP, concurrently with project preparation and appraisal. This Plan is expected to incorporate all essential ingredients of the present reporting and monitoring system besides covering existing development schemes as a concomitant task, so that a unified monitoring system is put in place for ongoing and new works and duplication of similar jobs is obviated.

2. Objective of the assignment

1. To keep Project Management well informed about (a) efficiency in utilization of committed resources for intended purpose, (b) achievement of key outputs and (c) degree of realization of project objectives.
2. To ensure exchange of information between executive, controlling and key project management functionaries in effective, quick and interactive manner for triggering timely decisions/ corrective actions.
3. To help policy makers and planners steer forestry development programmes, in particular MNRMP, in the right direction.
4. To identify transparency and accountability norms and benchmark indicators for regular monitoring by village level institutions as well as by outside agencies and the project facilitators viz the F.D.
5. To prepare a three tier ( Dy.C.F., C.F., & P.C.C.F. levels ) M& E work plan for both qualitative and quantitative evaluation of achievements of various components of the MN RP.

3. Specific Tasks

3.1 An in depth review of prevailing monitoring systems for ongoing development schemes from the level of Forest Division to the office of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. The review will include current status of computerization in the Forest Department for data management and monitoring. Findings of this review exercise would be presented in the form of a draft Monitoring Status Paper in a Workshop setting to a select group of the Forest Department’s personnel for seeking their feedback.

3.2 Study of existing arrangements and practices for evaluation of development schemes and the follow up action on findings of such evaluations; preparing a critique on its effectiveness and presenting the output in the form of a Working Paper. This document would be discussed with the senior management of the Forest Department and refined after obtaining their feedback.

3.3 Designing of a computerized monitoring system covering line units from the Forest Divisions to the office of PCCF, for forestry development works with specific additional component (with due regard to information content, periodicity, special institutional arrangements and feedback mechanism) needed for MNRMP. The proposed monitoring system should cover all essential internal reporting requirements of the Forest Department for ongoing development schemes and project works; additional reporting requirements for audit, reimbursement of expenditure, procurements of goods/civil works and information needs for the World Bank’s supervision in the context of MNRMP. Concurrently, additional parameters and methodology would be developed for evaluation of key components of MNRMP. The outputs will be presented in the form of a draft Monitoring & Evaluation Work Plan, to be finalized after obtaining feedback of the Forest Department through an interactive Workshop.

3.4 Identification of baseline information needed for use in newly designed M & E system, especially for measuring achievement of development objectives of MNRMP. Preparation of a Manual for baseline data collection, in Marathi, for guidance of field staff (primarily Foresters) and conducting their hands-on-training in data collection.

3.5 Providing operational support to the Forest Department in the use of M & E Work Plan, on commencement of project implementation for a period of six months with additional one-year maintenance and up-gradation services.

4. Methodology for the study

1. The Consultants are expected to outline methodology in their technical proposal. The successful Consultants would describe complete details of methodology and work plan of the assignment in their Inception Report. A brief account of important aspects to be covered is given below to enable prospective Consultants formulate their proposals.
2. On resumption of assignment the Consultants will study the administrative setup including executive machinery and control systems of the Forest Department in the context of development schemes. The database maintained at present for monitoring of development schemes, along with reporting systems and practices, will be studied right from the Forest Divisions to the PCCF office. All development schemes funded from the Forest Department’s own budget as well as those from external sources, such as, Forest Development Authority (FDA), DRDA, EGS, Department of Rural Development, Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, are expected to be covered. This study will also analyze as to how the information needs of other agencies, such as, the Accountant General, the funding authorities (in respect of the schemes funded from other sources) are catered to. The information contents, institutional arrangements including important nodes for exchange of information, feedback and follow-up mechanism, current status of computerization, methods used presently for data transfer and the skills/expertise available at different levels of forest administration will be studied comprehensively. The Consultants will interact with concerned persons of the Forest Department, especially, those in-charge of budget and finance in the office of PCCF. The output of this exercise will be documented in the form of a draft Monitoring Status Paper for development schemes.
3. Concurrently with the above task, the existing arrangements for evaluation of development schemes will be studied in consultation with the personnel of Central Evaluation Unit, Nagpur. The study will bring out the strength and weakness of the present system with regard to evaluation of development schemes and follow up action on the feedback received from such evaluations. The output of this study will be reported in the form of a draft Working Paper.
4. The drafts of Monitoring Status Paper and the Working Paper on internal evaluation will be presented in a workshop of the Forest Department’s personnel representing different levels of functionaries. These documents will be finalized and used as essential input for devising M&E Work Plan and designing the needed MIS for this purpose.
5. The Consultants will closely interact with the Project Coordination Unit and familiarize themselves with the development objectives MNRMP and its components/ investment package, the monitoring requirement expressly stated by the Forest Department, the information needs of the World Bank with regard to supervision, audit, procurements and reimbursement of project costs. In addition, the Consultants will collect first hand information of at least one village in each of the district covered under the project (14 districts in all), to ascertain availability of baseline data. On the basis of such visits/ studies additional surveys will be designed for collecting the essential supplementary data in a cost-effective manner at the time of JFM micro-plan preparation. The Consultants will then develop the M&E parameters for different project components in due consultation with the Project Coordination Unit.
6. After review of current M&E practices as outlined in paragraphs 4.2 and 4.3 and with due regard to additional M&E needs articulated as per paragraph 4.5, the Consultants will formulate the draft Monitoring & Evaluation Work Plan for ongoing development scheme as well as MNRMP. The Work Plan will contain specific provision for the project to the extent necessary and incorporate feedback and follow up mechanism as well. The Consultants will spell out information needs and methods for its capture, consolidation/aggregation and exchange at various levels from DCF to PCCF and address those in the scheme of computerization of M&E Work Plan.
7. A manual will be prepared for collection of baseline data mentioned in paragraph 4.5. Training will be arranged in batches of 15 to 20 persons for nearly 300 Foresters, about 20 per district of the project area, for familiarizing them with the methods for collection of baseline data and its incorporation in JFM micro-plans.
8. The Consultants will make available its personnel for making M&E Work Plan functional on start of project implementation. This support will be extended for six months by making services of M&E expert available to PCU at Nagpur. The Consultants will provide necessary maintenance and up-gradation support, on demand, for another year.

5. Data, Services and facilities to be provided by the Client

5.1 Relevant information needed for this assignment will be made available to the Consultants. The Client will designate one Nodal Officer as interface between the personnel of both the parties. The Client’s personnel will be available for interaction during mutually agreed period. Rest Houses will be made available to the Consultants as per availability at nominal charges.

6. Duration of assignment

6.1 The assignment is expected to last for about 24 months but most of the tasks will be completed in the first 6 months. The effective input will be approximately 12 person- months of key personnel, spread over this period. The Consultants would be on board at least 6 months ahead of commencement of MNRMP implementation.

7. Outputs from the Consultants

1. The Consultants will submit the following outputs/documents according to the time schedule indicated therein.

8. Review Committee

8.1 A Committee consisting of the following members would intermittently review the work of the Consultants.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Maharashtra State
Chief Conservator of Forests (Evaluation and Nationalization)
Chief Conservator of Forests (Development)
Officer in-charge of the Project Co-ordination Unit.
Conservator of Forests, Central Evaluation Unit, Nagpur.

8.2 The above Committee will review the outputs; acceptance of outputs will be subject to Review Committee’s approval.

9. Composition of Consultants’ team

9.1 The Consultants will provide a team of experts drawn from the related field, such as, professional forester, information analyst, project monitoring and evaluation expert, systems analyst and computer professional & one Sociologist to weigh the output of JFM through M &E. One of the team members will act as project leader.

10. Payment Schedule