India’s civil society is quietly reshaping how MEL is done—moving beyond templates toward approaches grounded in purpose, context, and community.
We spoke to 175+ organizations to understand how MEL is being reworked to support real-time decisions, reflect lived realities, and drive meaningful change on the ground.
73% of MEL data is used primarily for donor reporting.
Only 18% supports internal decision-making.
Just 6% is used for communication or community engagement.
59% of CSOs spend less than 5% of program budgets on MEL.
42.5% rely on program staff (not dedicated MEL teams) for evaluation.
Among smaller, community-based CSOs, 39% report MEL teams of just 1–2 members.
Excel, Google Forms, and WhatsApp dominate; 68% rely on these tools.
10.3% use emerging AI tools like ChatGPT, while another 10.3% still work entirely manually.
Community engagement is often one-way; genuine co-creation is rare.
Peer learning networks, leadership-led experimentation, and feedback loops grounded in storytelling are becoming vital MEL lifelines.
CSOs are reworking donor formats into functional tools.
Data is being repurposed for real-time field decisions.
Learning is undervalued.
MEL remains skewed toward monitoring and evaluation; learning, key to adaptation, is structurally sidelined.
Participation is limited and extractive.
While 81.8% of CSOs share findings with communities, few enable them to interpret or act on this data.
Digitization risks deepening exclusion.
Barriers of literacy, language, and access are marginalizing frontline staff and vulnerable groups.
Evaluation still centers outputs, not outcomes.
Nuanced outcomes—like shifts in gender equity—are often missed by conventional metrics.
From reporting to reflection
Quarterly pause-and-reflect sessions are helping CSOs embed learning into program strategy.
From paper to peer-led systems
Community-generated indicators, local audits, and informal peer networks are decentralizing MEL in meaningful ways.
From hierarchy to mentorship
Young professionals are driving tech adoption, while emerging leaders are being mentored into MEL roles, building long-term capacity.
Design for learning, not just measurement
Shift from fixed indicators to adaptive systems that respond to on-the-ground realities.
Invest in capacity, not just compliance
Equip teams with analytical skills, provide multilingual tools, and support learning agendas led by grassroots actors.
Recognize peer networks as MEL infrastructure
Support informal exchanges as legitimate spaces for knowledge creation and innovation.
Build shared tools for inclusive insight
Enable cross-regional knowledge sharing through locally governed data platforms.
Reclaim dignity: Decolonize MEL
Ensure communities co-own their data—shaping what gets measured, why, and how it’s used.
Civil society in India is ready to lead MEL from the inside out. What they need is patient capital, strategic flexibility, and a shift in mindset—from compliance to curiosity, from extractive evaluation to co-created insight.
“MEL is not about reporting what worked. It’s about learning why it did.”
— CSO Leader
Credits:
Creative Direction: Anubrata Basu
Technical Design: Tarun Pathak
Development: Abhishek Kumar