IIM Kozhikode, NITI Aayog come together to boost monitoring, evaluation ecosystem

Kozhikode: The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) and Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog, inked a historic Statement of Intent (SoI) on Institutional Partnership that will focus on strategic and technical collaboration to strengthen the overall monitoring and evaluation environment in India, with special focus on building a data monitoring and evaluation stack.

Debashis Chatterjee, Director IIMK and SekharBonu, Director General, DMEO, led their respective teams and signed the collaboration, an IIM-K statement said here.

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"The objective of this SoI is to establish a framework for cooperative institutional relations to encourage and promote cooperation in the area of technical development, support appropriate capacity building and joint studies in the field of monitoring and evaluation of government policies and programs through econometric evaluation and monitoring," IIM Kozhikode said in a statement.

In collaboration with DMEO, IIM Kozhikode will organise capacity building programs workshops, forums, seminars and other activities with a view to enhance advocacy of monitoring and evaluation in the country, it said. The target group for this exercise will comprise public officials at the Centre and states in partnership with state, national ministries, departments, institutions in the national organizations; regional institutions, local researchers; State Administrative Training Institutions and Trainers in the field of monitoring and evaluation.

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Speaking on the occasion, Chatterjee, expressed delight on IIM Kozhikode embarking on a collaboration with the country’s foremost policy making institution NITI Aayog. “Conducting joint research studies on India’s development challenges, will bring forth the truth of prevailing status(Satyam); further evidence from such studies will assist in informed policy making, fostering sustainable development (Nityam); eventually eminently becoming capable of delivering Purnam (wholeness) in our engagement with the research and capacity building endeavours of DMEO NITI.” he said.

Sharing his thoughts on the need for collaborating with IIM-K, Bonu added that in an increasingly fast-paced, complex, and digitized society, governments need to monitor and evaluate policies efficiently and effectively. "Partnership with IIMK is an endeavour to bring India’s premier knowledge institutions and apex monitoring and evaluation office to do collaborative research for larger public good and benefit of society,” he said.

Both IIMK and DMEO, NITI Aayog will also work together for the exchange of best practices in the area of monitoring and evaluation, with an endeavour to upload them on institutional websites for better dissemination of study results to a wider audience and for increased advocacy and outreach on the topic.