Engaging a Federal India

Active

• National Nutrition Mission (also known as ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project: Additional Financing)

  The development objective of the National Nutrition Mission Project for India is to support the Government of India and participating states to (i) strengthen the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) policy framework, systems and capacities, and facilitate community engagement, to ensure greater focus on children under three years of age; and (ii) strengthen convergent actions for improved nutrition outcomes.The project includes the following four components. (i) ICDS institutional and systems strengthening; (ii) community mobilization and behavior change communication; (iii) convergent nutrition actions; and (iv) project management, monitoring and evaluation. The project was significantly restructured in September 2015 to address these design and capacity constraints. The restructuring simplified the design by (a) focusing on a small set of evidence-based interventions, (b) building in sustainability by using existing Government structures to deliver the interventions instead of parallel project implementation units, and (c) ensuring the provision of high-quality technical assistance through a World Bank-executed Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF)-Partnership for Nutrition Results in India (PNRI). The proposed Additional Financing (AF) will thus fund the first phase scaling-up of the National Nutrition Mission (NNM) from the current 162 districts across 8 states to 315 districts across all states and union territories (UTs). The proposed AF will also focus on quality improvement of the ongoing project interventions within the existing project states. The original project will correspondingly be restructured to extend the closing date to August 30, 2022.

• India: ICDS Systems Strengthening & Nutrition Improvement Program (ISSNIP)

  The objective of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Program (ISSNIP) Project is to improve nutritional outcomes of children in India. The changes proposed are to amend the clause enumerated in schedule two, section IV.B.1 (a) of the financing agreement to include category two as an eligible category under retroactive financing. The change will make the financing agreement consistent with the agreement with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) during project preparation that the project will be able to provide retroactive financing of not more than SDR 13,000,000 equivalent for expenditures incurred after January 1, 2011 till November 5, 2012. The MWCD had proposed the use of retroactive financing for CPMU costs as part of project management costs, which are under category two, which inadvertently was not included as an eligible category for retroactive financing.

• National Rural Livelihoods Project

  The objective of the National Rural Livelihood Project for India is to establish efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor that enables them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial and selected public services. There is also no change in the components within the project. While there is no change in the indicators, result values have changed in the Result Framework due to the proposed scaling down of the project. Results framework has been revised to incorporate for extension of the project by a year. It is now proposed to shift the focus of the project implementation to the state level with all project components and eligible expenditures/investments within them, being available for financing at the state level. Consequently, the investments at the GoI level are being reduced. The role of the GoI will therefore be more in the nature of project coordination, limited technical assistance, disbursement and monitoring. As the total financing is reduced, funds have been reallocated between the components. More rigorous criteria for fund allocation to the participating States will be followed and a fully operational SRLM will be a precondition for a participating state to receive project funds. The disbursement schedule over the balance period of the project has also been modified. The Financing Agreement of the project will be modified to accommodate all the above changes and will form the basis for the implementation of the restructured project.

• National AIDS Control Support Project

  The objective of the National AIDS Control Support Project for India is to increase safe behaviors among high risk groups in order to contribute to the national goal of reversal of the HIV epidemic by 2017. The project has three components. (1) Scaling up targeted prevention interventions component will support the scaling up of Targeted Interventions (Tis) with the aim of reaching out to the hard to reach population groups who do not yet access and use the prevention services of the program, and saturate coverage among the High Risk Groups (HRGs). In addition, this component will support the bridge population, i.e. migrants and truckers. (2) Behavior change communications will include: (i) communication programs into society and to encourage normative changes aimed at reducing stigma and discrimination in society at large, and in health facilities specifically, as well as to increase demand and effective utilization of testing and counseling services; (ii) financing of a research and evaluation agency to assess the cost-effectiveness and program impact of behavior change communications activities; and (iii) establish and evaluate a helpline at the national and state level to further increase access to information and services. (3) Institutional strengthening component will support innovations to enhance performance management including fiduciary management, such as the use of the computerized financial management system, at national and state levels.

• National Hydrology Project

  The development objective of the National Hydrology Project for India is to improve the extent, quality, and accessibility of water resources information and to strengthen the capacity of targeted water resources management institutions in India. The project comprises of four components. The first component, water resources monitoring systems will finance the establishment and modernization of new and existing hydromet monitoring systems including meteorology, streamflow, groundwater, and water storage measurements, and construction of hydro-informatics centers that capture both water resources and uses. It consists of three sub-components: (i) hydromet observation networks; (ii) supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for water infrastructure; and (iii) establishment of hydro-informatics centers. The second component, water resources information systems will support the strengthening of national and subnational water information centers with web-enabled water resources information systems (WRISs) through standardization of databases and products from various data sources and departments and make comprehensive, timely, and integrated water resources information available to decision makers for effective planning, decision making, and operations. It consists of two sub-components: (i) national WRIS; and (ii) regional and sub national WRIS. The third component, water resources operations and planning systems will support the development of interactive analytical tools and decision support platform that will integrate database, models, and scenario management for hydrological flood forecasting, integrated reservoir operations, and water resources accounting for improved operation, planning, and management of both surface water and groundwater. It consists of three sub-components: (i) development of analytical tools and decision-support platforms; (ii) pu

• IN Swachh Bharat Mission Support Operation

  India has been one of the fastest growing economies during the last decade. Between 2004 and 2011, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded at a rate of 8.3 percent per year while poverty declined by an average of 2.5 percentage points per year, a pace significantly faster than earlier periods. Poverty reduction was supported by higher economic growth and greater responsiveness of poverty to growth, including through the expansion of social programs. Increases in non-farm wage employment, especially in construction, greater rural-urban integration, and higher rural wage growth were amongst the key drivers. However, in the more recent period since 2012, a slowdown in rural real wage growth and volatility in construction activity may have had a sobering effect on the pace of poverty reduction. At the same time, acceleration of growth to 7.3 percent in 2015, if sustained, may lead to further gains for the poor. Maintaining the growth momentum, and increasing the responsiveness of poverty reduction to growth, is an India’s key challenge going forward. The overall experience of the past national sanitation programs offer several lessons. First, eliminating OD will not be achieved through a top-down approach of constructing toilets. Instead, it needs to be driven by changing behavior at the community level. This requires complementary ‘soft’ interventions such as interpersonal communication of hygiene messages. Second, the implementation of SBM-G is being conducted by the states, and therefore the role of MDWS is to support states with allocation of funds and incentives for achievement of programs goals and objectives. This role is proposed to be expanded to provide additional capacity building and technical support to the implementing institutions in the states. Third, by recognizing and incentivizing good performance of states and their implementing agencies, especially GPs,

• Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Project

  The development objective of the Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Project for India is to enhance the capacity of MPUDC to improve coverage of key urban services and increase the revenue of participating urban local bodies. This project will have two components: (a) institutional development; and (b) urban investments. The first component, institutional development is to support the MPUDC, the Municipal Reforms Cell (MRC), and the participating Urban Local Body (ULBs) to build their capacities to improve coverage of urban services in the state. This component will have two subcomponents: policy reforms and project management. The second component, urban investments aims to improve service provision in target towns and cities with an emphasis on ensuring that ULBs can sustain the infrastructure in the long run. All municipal services qualify for financing under this component. However, given the Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP’s) Vision 2018 which envisages access to piped water supply and sanitation for all urban citizens, the focus is likely to be on water supply and sewerage projects.

• Atal Bhujal Yojana (Abhy)-National Groundwater Management Improvement

  The development objective of Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY) - National Groundwater Management Improvement Program for India is to improve the management of groundwater resources in selected states. The activities under the program are mapped to the two results areas. Activities under Results Area 1 will focus on : (a) introducing bottom-up planning of groundwater interventions through community-led Water Security Plan (WSPs); (b) improving government spending through the planning process; and (c) implementing participatory groundwater management, including both supply and demand side measures. Results Area 2 focuses on building institutional capacity at all levels, including improving groundwater information and making it publicly accessible. Results Area 2 also focuses on strengthening the results-based culture for groundwater management within the Government of India (GoI) by improving output and outcome Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E).

• Skill India Mission Operation

  The objective of the Skill India Mission Operation Project for India is to enhance institutional mechanisms for skill development and increase access to quality and market-relevant training for the workforce. There is no change in the overall scope of the program. While the project will continue to support implementation of the Government’s SD strategy, as outlined in the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, over six years (2017–2023), the regulatory framework has been re-designated by the MSDE post an approval by the Union Cabinet of Ministers. The operation will continue to focus on enhancing institutional mechanisms at the national and state levels, including partnerships with industry and employers, to increase the market relevance of short-term SD programs and scale up their delivery. Hence, there is no change to the PDO.

• West Bengal Institutional Strengthening of Gram Panchayats Program II

  The development objective of Second Phase of West Bengal Support to Institutional Strengthening of the Gram Panchayat Program aims to strengthen the institutional and financial capacities of Gram Panchayats (GPs) across West Bengal. The program includes a series of measures to enhance the voice of people both as citizens and consumers—of public services, such as: (i) the development and roll out of a Grievance Redressal Mechanism (GRM) that offers several avenues to provide feedback; (ii) the continuation of a comprehensive Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign seeking to improve local self-governance and service delivery as well as program communication; (iii) the enhancement of Vulnerability Group Development Index (VGDI) for enabling inclusive development; and (iv) very prominently, an Annual Performance Assessments (APA) tool with two out of its four modules (Planning and Budgeting; and Participation, Transparency, and Accountability) directly rewarding GPs performance on the basis of access to Voice mechanisms. This PforR operation (Program-for-Results) is identical to the government program. The Program will support the achievement of the four Key Results Areas (KRAs) through the ten core activities.