Evaluation in India (original) (raw)

valuation is practised in India for seventy years in various sectors of public sphere, and in recent years by the civil society and industries also. Even though there is no Constitutional mandate or national policies or statutes, evaluations are commissioned both by the Central (federal) government and States as and when needed, and in recent years, are generally carried out by independent research institutions. While there are a few courses in evaluation as a part of higher academic courses, no independent and full-time programs are on offer. Most of the evaluation capacity building takes place either through international programmes or short part-time courses in India. Evaluation Community of India (ECOI) set up in 2015 as a body of professional evaluators, along with its constituent EvalYouth India, has been championing the cause of evaluation capacity building through innovative approaches and the adoption of an evaluation policy. Civil society’s appreciation of evaluation has been growing, and so is the media’s reporting of evaluative evidence and of national evaluation policy. The authors provide a vivid picture of the state of institutionalization of evaluation in India from angles of Constitutional and legal mandate, existence of national policies, executive instructions and guidelines on the evaluation practice. They argue that despite the general absence of any national mandates or guidelines, evaluation practice has evolved over the past seven decades in response to national needs. Evaluations are mainly country-led, carried out by independent institutions and employ mixed methods. Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), which is the apex agency for monitoring and evaluation, works towards a strong evaluation ecosystem. Evaluation capacity-building takes place mainly through short-term training, and the higher academic institutions do not offer any formal courses. Evaluation Community of India (ECOI) is the professional association striving to develop evaluation capacities, widen awareness of evidence-based decision process and to promote a national evaluation policy. The authors find evidence of civil society organizations, industry and media increasingly participating in evaluations and reporting evaluation findings.