Evaluation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme-WCD Sector, NITI Aayog

Evaluation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme-WCD Sector, NITI Aayog

The Women and Child Development (WCD) sector, covering umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women, is being evaluated to capture the broader canvas of effectiveness, efficiency, impact, scope for skill developments, value additions, and opportunities to bring innovation and sustainability across WCD schemes. This evaluation assesses the overall sectoral implications on the national economy. The evaluation study comprises four broad components, including 

• sector analysis,
• umbrella- and scheme-level analysis,
• identification of best practices and case studies, and 
• identification of ways to improve scheme harmonization and scheme rationalization.

Sambodhi was responsible for designing methodology, actual data collection, contributing to report writing, and communicating the findings to NITI Aayog. It analyzed primary insights from key stakeholders, including sector-level and scheme-level officials and administrative end-beneficiaries respondents. 

Sambodhi’s primary focus was on actual data collection. Insights from the primary survey were used to complement and triangulate findings from the meta-analysis and answer the evaluation questions using the Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Sustainability, and Impact (REESI) framework. Overall, Sambodhi collected quantitative data from 3206 respondents, and roughly 1000 qualitative interviews were conducted across 11 States and 1 Union Territory.