lannin in ndia 5.49
Third-party evaluation by NITI the DG without any interference and will have its
Aayog. independent budget.
This way, with the commencement of the It is felt that the government programmes can
new fiscal 2016–17, the long-drawn process of benefit enormously from concurrent independent
restructuring the CSSs seems to have reached a evaluation. Presently concurrent evaluation is
logical end. done by the concerned ministries as an on-going
parallel process. Expert evaluation of programmes
IndEpEndEnt EVALuAtIon oFFIcE that have been in operation is done by the
Programme Evaluation Organisation (PEO) of
An Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) has the Planning Commission—the IEO is expected
been created by the GoI in February 2014, at to strengthen this evaluation process. Main aims
an arm’s distance from the government with the of the office is:
objective of strengthening public accountability of (i) To help improve the effectiveness of
some of the important social sector programmes, government policies and programmes by
which account huge resource mobilisation such as assessing their impact and outcomes.
the flagship programmes. Conceived on the lines (ii) To set guidelines and methodology for all
of Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the evaluations done by various departments,
IMF,103 the body has been created on the basis of and agencies and encourage a culture of
international experiences, in cooperation with the openness and learning in government
World Bank and the British DFID (Department systems.
for International Development)—It is modelled (iii) To connect India to the best international
on the lines of Mexico’s National Council for the evaluated evidence in development
Evaluation of Social Development Policy. practice and knowledge to learn from
The IEO will be an independent office others success and mistakes.
attached to the Planning Commission under Main features about the functioning of the
a Governing Board chaired by the Deputy office may be summed-up as given below:
Chairman of the Planning Commission. The (i) It will conduct independent evaluations
IEO is to be funded by the Planning Commission of plan programmes—especially
and will have, as its head, a full-time Director flagship programmes—and assess their
General (Ajay Chhibber) in the rank and status effectiveness, relevance and impact.
of Member of the Planning Commission / Union Besides, it has the freedom to conduct
Minister of State. The DG has a tenure of 3 years independent evaluations on any
extendable to 5 years. Its staff will be selected by programme which has access to public
103. An Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) functions in
funding or implicit or explicit guarantees
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2001, from the government.
which conducts independent and objective evaluations
of Fund’s policies and activities. Under its Terms of
(ii) The work programme of the IEO will
Reference, it is fully independent from the Management be prepared through an open process of
of the IMF and operates at arm’s length from the Board of consultations, including feedback from
Executive Directors with the following three missions—
(i) Enhancing the learning culture within the Fund, civil society and will be made public.
(ii) Strengthening the Fund’s external credibility, and (iii) The IEO will prepare the Terms of
(iii) Supporting institutional governance and oversight
(Source: Independent Evaluation Office, IMF, Washington Reference for all independent evaluations,
DC, 2014). which will be conducted by selected