Keywords

Monitoring is defined as a process of measuring, recording, collecting, processing and communicating information to assist policy makers and project management to take right decision in a given situation. Monitoring is essentially a functioning tool to understand the flow character of a programme or a scheme right from the time of its commencement. It generates not only flow of data but deciphers also its inner meaning of the tied process signalling therein the irritating points that need to be resolved. In that mould, it acts as supervising the functioning process of a particular work plan at a given point of time. Further, when a policy related programme is monitored, it is possible that it may ask for revisiting the postulates and other fundamental premises and may even question the prudency to continue the policy any further point of time without any amendment or modifications. It is also possible that any pilot initiative in an emerging area, after receipt of encouraging monitoring input, might suggest expanding and replicating elsewhere.

For productive monitoring four critical aspects are needed to be addressed:

  1. (i)

    What is to be monitored

Monitoring items should be pointed, relevant and critical. Such items include physical and financial progress. In general perception, monitoring is usually understood as monitoring of expenditure and the focus of all activities is confined to financial monitoring . Monitoring per se includes time dimension of scheme expenditure as well. However, the popular approach of financial monitoring is one dimensional in that it does not give any idea of the emerging status of physical achievement. Financial monitoring without its concurrent physical status is not meaningful monitoring at all. As a matter of fact, physical monitoring is very important from project implementation point of view as it gives fair idea about linkage between quantum of money spent and the corresponding volume of physical output. Another way of looking at monitoring from project implementation point of view is Process monitoring and Outcome monitoring. A project is supposed to perform a set of tasks in a work schedule in a time format. Similarly, it is also supposed to show certain deliverables at different identified points of work programme. Monitoring assists the programme manager to keep track with the implementation process of several segments of such work programme. Such step by step monitoring helps to ensure projected vision of defined outcome in a given framework of time.

There are host of items for which monitoring technique is made use of. In the context of population control in India, there is scope for monitoring of influx and infiltration across the border states of India; it may as well be monitoring on adequacy and effectiveness of programme intervention in the demographically weaker states and districts in India; it could as well be monitoring the facts and issues that are critical for the relatively abnormal rate of growth of a particular religious faith or whether the socio-economic goals of the country have been following the right direction. There is good scope of monitoring the extent and quality of Civil Registration system of Births and Deaths or of the extent of coverage of the on-going marriage registration and prevention of under aged marriage and so on.

In so far as family planning is concerned, there is huge unmet need of monitoring on several important issues. Ironically enough, this is the most under-served areas of monitoring in India. The basis of family planning is Eligible Couple and Children Register which is hardly monitored in the states in India. Apart from being the primary referral document, it embodies the types of target-clients who have to be reached. Effective monitoring on this item alone would be a huge service to the cause of family planning programme in the country. As a follow-up of this ECCR monitoring, there could be FP service monitoring on Birth Spacing; monitoring on types of contraceptives canvassed (also male or female) and used in general but more particularly for those having more than two children in particular; whether counselling on permanent method has been initiated and the extent of its success etc. Similarly, based on ECCR, there could be monitoring on Ante-natal care of pregnant women, Breast-feeding , supplementary nutrition for under-weight children or on immunisation status of children etc.

Incidentally, the ushering of Target-free approach in family planning (FP) since April 1996 together with the policy decision of the Government of India to merge family planning and maternal and child health (MCH) services into Reproductive and Child health (RCH) services has made family planning programme less focused, non-visible and low priority in terms of importance, time, care, coverage and outreach of services. Medical and health related services occupying prime time usually got higher priority in supervision and monitoring. This continues even after the launch of the Rural Health Mission. The scope of intensive monitoring of family planning related services separately under Rural Health Mission and Urban Health Mission cannot be overemphasised. There is indeed a huge gap in the outreach of the family welfare services to the targeted eligible couples in our country.

Monitoring Indicators have now come into being for facilitating objectivity in monitoring exercise. Depending on the infrastructure set-up at any State, there is scope for designing distinct Monitoring Indicators /items for the level of Sub-centre, Primary Health Centre, District Heath Centre and State level Health Establishment and the like. It is for the same reason the design of the monitoring format would depend on what subjects/items will be monitored at that level. There is no uniform format for monitoring.

  1. (ii)

    Who is to monitor

The primary responsibility of monitoring lies with the implementation authority. In case of government department it may be done by the department itself or delegated to its subordinate office in some cases. Be that as it may, there has to have one to one correspondence between the subjects of monitoring and the functional domain of such department or agency; otherwise the exercise would be simply mechanical and void of any life force. As a general rule, the monitoring authority would be the nodal department as per Rules of Business of the Government, either in the Union Government or in the State Governments. Regarding monitoring of influx and infiltration across the border states of India, or of adequacy and effectiveness of programme intervention in the demographically weaker states and districts in India or of monitoring the facts and issues that are critical for the relatively abnormal rate of growth of a particular religious faith or of the projected socio-economic goals of the country, the monitoring is needed to be undertaken by the department of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Similarly, monitoring of the extent and quality of Civil Registration system of Births and Deaths or of the extent of coverage of the ongoing marriage registration etc. need also to be done by the said Ministry and/or by the nodal department of the state government on a regular basis.

The family planning programme is the least monitored area in our country and even when it does take place, there is less professional approach in those exercises. One of the prerequisites for quality monitoring is decoding the messages embodied in the data structure and then re-activate the process to meet the identified deficit and systemise correction. Because of paramount importance of the Eligible Couple and Children Register , it needs to be monitored by the immediate supervisory authority in the Health & Family welfare set-up of the state government and also by the related Gram Panchayat in the rural areas/Ward Committee in the urban areas. Monitoring of Birth Spacing , contraceptive-use, Ante-natal care, Breast-feeding , supplementary nutrition and immunisation etc. need to be monitored by the immediate supervisory authority in the Health & Family welfare set-up of the state government.

The decentralised local bodies at various levels need to take up monitoring responsibility of functions as devolved on to them under Article 243G or Article 243W, as the case may be. The Gram Panchayat will monitor implementation of its own schemes and so by others. There is no scope of monitoring a local body’s scheme by another tier of a local body. However, the DPC, as the apex Constitutional planning body in the district may take up monitoring in respect of all schemes or for schemes falling under any selective subject (e.g. drinking water, road linkage, waste disposal etc.) of all local bodies within its jurisdictional area, as it deems proper.

Another important area of monitoring relates to situation when a good number of monitoring authority participates on monitoring a single programme. An illustration will make it clear. Immunisation of children may be monitored at various levels of government, both at the Union Government or in the states. Normally the monitoring focus of such multiple monitoring are distinct from one another, though there may have some commonalities. In the case of the Union government, the focus is on the immunisation of the children of the country as such and the responsibility of providing all support including the required antigens to the states in India for 100 % coverage of immunisation. The state nodal department, on the other hand, is required to put in place infrastructure, distribution of required antigens and arranging service providers for ensuring full immunisation coverage to children in the state and it’s monitoring on a regular basis. At the district, sub-district and field set-up, the monitoring focus of each of the organisations is different from one another. It varies from setting up of immunisation centres, informing such arrangement in the locality, distribution of IEC materials on immunisation, counselling of parents wherever needed, Home visit, mop-up for left-out cases and organisation of outreach camps where needed.

Another essential requisite for quality and effective monitoring is that monitoring team members must be well conversant with the schemes under monitoring review including its objects, sanctioned fund and its release, details of personnel on the job, timelines of completion etc. The domain knowledge of team members can only ensure meaningful interactions, locate the gaps or deficiencies and be in a position to suggest right prescription for course correction.

  1. (iii)

    How is to monitor them

The structure of monitoring format is very crucial. It has to be designed in tune with the basic objectives of programme. Such structure of monitoring format has to be pretested, wherever possible, to ensure right flow of information and absence of any confusion in filling up the monitoring schedule/format by field functionaries. The field functionaries need to fill in the designed monitoring format as per time design and submit it to its monitoring authority . Normally, the descriptive version should not be encouraged for the sake of easier comprehension and its consolidation. Based on analysis of monitoring data, a status position is needed to be worked out. The monitoring status, with observations on course correction, if any, may then be communicated to all concerned for appropriate action. In case of necessity, it could be followed up by field inspection as well. A monitoring meeting may also be convened to sort out implementation issues for the desired way forward.

  1. (iv)

    Monitoring of Action taken Report

Monitoring is for ensuring right course of programme implementation and, therefore, it is not a onetime affair. It is a continuous process till the scheme is completed. The prescriptions for correction based on a monitoring report , say MR-1, need to be comprehensively addressed before submitting monitoring report, say MR-2. Mere communication of findings without follow-up compliance report would make the entire exercise redundant. ATR is in fact the essence of monitoring.

Monitoring per se is not an end in itself. It is a means to ensure proper implementation of scheme by acting as an indivisible supervisor during the process of implementation. Moreover, it is not enough that monitoring technique should alone be applied: it is also required to be buttressed by the other technique known as concurrent evaluation . In fact monitoring and concurrent evaluation are two activities which go hand in hand. Adequate monitoring is a basic requisite for undertaking concurrent evaluation and it is impossible to evaluate a scheme unless it has been adequately monitored over time.