Letter for Expression of Interest

Transcription

1 NATIONAL RURAL LIVELIHOODS PROJECT (NRLP) Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India 6 th Floor, Hotel Samrat, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi. India Letter for Expression of Interest Dear Sir/Madam, 1. Letters for Expression of interest are invited from qualified and experienced consulting firms who wish to undertake Consultancy services as Technical Support Agency for Providing Technical, Management, Business and Legal Consultancy for enrlms to National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India under the National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP). 2. Background: NRLM aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial and selected public services. Towards this purpose, the Government of India has availed a Credit from International Development Association and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) which aims to support the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). The Government of India intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this loan to finance the above Consultancy Services. 3. The objectives of the Consultancy Services which will be carried out are: To provide technical, management, business and legal consultancy for establishing and managing robust IT based MIS platform at both the Centre and the State level and other ICT based livelihood services to the poor households supported by NRLM. 4. The expected results of the consultancy services are: a. Establish Project Management Unit at NRLM: The agency will establish a Program Management Unit (PMU) at NRLM with team of professionals to function as the Information Communication Technology arm of NRLM working closely with its thematic experts and core functionaries to leverage ICT as an organizing principle and embedding it in core strategies for achieving various Mission outcomes. b. ICT Policy framework for enrlms: This would involve developing an overall ICT policy framework based on (i) stocktaking of existing ICT investments and practices in large livelihood programs in the country, particularly those managed by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India (ii) scoping and defining need for ICT in NRLM, (iii) areas of ICT intervention at various levels, (iv) assessment of the as-is status, (v) platform architecture, (vi) solutions framework and (v) allied ICT initiatives. The policy will also develop strategies for protecting and building on the investments already made in ICT at the Centre and the States through suitable integration and provide road map for their alignment with enrlms.

2 c. Managing enterprise architecture for enrlms: Translation of the policy framework into enterprise architecture and establishing a collaborative application life cycle management encompassing requirements management, architecture management, change and software configuration management, quality management, build and deployment management, application portfolio plan, etc. i. Finalizing a detailed roadmap for the new set of applications required for NRLM including those for community service delivery like social empowerment, financial empowerment, economic empowerment and entitlement, etc. and elaborating their scoping and working out User Requirement Documents as and when field level solutions emerge in an agile programme management framework collaboratively with the States. ii. Establishing a collaborating framework for integrating ICT innovations at various levels abiding to common standards and definitions for processes, artifacts, iii. workflows and also best practices. Developing a comprehensive ICT policy for NRLM, which would include, but not necessarily limited to - Defining work processes to be followed by all users/stake-holders to utilize this platform including operational work flows and associated procedures Defining/approving all processes associated with data capture, data migration and data conversion. In case of decentralized/distributed databases define processes associated with data synchronization. Physical and Information security Risk management including Business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) options Risk identification and mitigation through continuous control/process monitoring during the development and deployment phase and after going live. Define and implement processes for period checks, including third party audits for compliance and risk management d. Technical Assistance to the States: Technical assistance will be provided to the States on need basis to develop embedded capacities for managing and various implementing aspects of enrlms. Besides, support will be extended to leverage and integrate the investments already made in major existing application platforms like those in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Tamil Nadu and in the process enhancing their capabilities by identifying and validating new applications, defining the data sharing mechanisms and reengineering requirements for ensuring their inter-operability and integration with the national Enterprise Architecture keeping in view data integrity and data duplication issues. It will also provide technical advice to the States on IT related issues. e. Implementation oversight: TSA will coordinate with Application Development Agencies and the State Implementation Agencies and provide implementation oversight during application development and Implementation. It will also create an overall framework for transition to implementation by reviewing/validating implementation plan templates, SOPs and other documentation for implementation. TSA will be responsible in carrying out acceptance testing of the software developed by ADA..

3 f. Governance of ICT for NRLM: TSA will be responsible for the overall governance management of all ICT applications related to enrlms. This would include i. Strategic alignment of ICT with NRLM goals ii. Value delivery of ICT services and redefine application portfolio periodically iii. Risk Management iv. Performance management v. Resource management g. Risk management and compliance: TSA will be responsible for the overall risk management and compliance functions related to enrlms. It will develop and ensure compliance to a comprehensive framework for risk management broadly covering: i. Application controls and security, data security and staging, IT infrastructure controls and security, ii. Work processes Compliance: All relevant processes required by stake holders (e.g. UIDAI, Planning Commission, CGA, Commercial Banks, etc.) to utilize this platform including operational work flows and associated procedures iii. Data staging, integration and access: All processes compliance associated with data capture, data migration and data conversion. In case of decentralized/distributed databases define processes associated with data synchronization. iv. Risk management: Data management plan, business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) processes. v. Risk identification through continuous control/process monitoring and implementing mitigation plan across enrlms during the development and vi. deployment phase and after going live. Compliance and checks: Develop protocol for period checks, including third party audits for compliance and risk control h. ICT asset management for enrlms: TSA will advise NRLM on the optimum IT infrastructure needs and planned move to cloud oriented models. Based on the agreed plan, the TSA will manage all ICT assets, systems and software and be responsible for all asset management processes and procedures, including tracking assets and analysis of data, inventory management, compliances with all software licenses agreements, handling systems for technical support, maintenance, replacement, upgradation, disposal of ICT systems, etc. i. Defining platform architecture standards at the State and national level which would facilitate modularity, expansion, scaling, interoperability, integration, reporting and interventions ii. Putting in place audit systems, including third party audit, to ensure that the policies, frameworks and solutions are implemented meaningfully iii. Assist NRLM in Asset verification and reconciliation annually.. i. Procurement related advisory: TSA will provide need based support to NRLM for procuring Application Development Agencies and State level Implementing Agencies for rolling out ICT applications and solutions. This assistance will broadly cover planning and budgeting for ICT products and services, preparation of TORs, vetting of national level and state level EOIs and RFPs for conformity with the frameworks and standards, etc. TSA will help NMMU to prepare a list of State Implementation Agencies for various applications and the states can choose agency from that list for implementation.

4 5. The consultants who are interested in being considered for this assignment should fulfill the following criteria: a. The consulting firm should be engaged in strategic IT consulting for the past five years. b. During the last three years the consulting firm should have a minimum annual turnover of Rs. 50 crore in IT consulting. c. The consulting firm should have executed at least 2 large egovernance projects demonstrating similar experience as mentioned in the Scope of Work (i.e. IT consulting, ICT strategy formulation, institutionalizing program management systems including IT audit and/or ICT governance management for a large private or public sector conglomerate) in a Country of large size and diversity (Comparable to India) during the last three years. d. Preference will be given for executing the above in the rural sector. Note: The Agency selected for this assignment is expected to provide advisory and handholding services for the agencies that will be selected for Software Development. The Agencies applying for this assignment may note that if they are selected for this assignment they (or their associates/consortium partners) would not be eligible for the Software Development assignments under this programme due to Conflict of Interest issues. 6. The TOTAL duration of the Consultancy Services will be Two years, and it should begin in August/ September, Consultants may associate other Service Providers to complement their respective areas of qualifications/expertise, such that the agency can deliver management support to NRLM. 8. Consultants or associations of consultants, who are interested in being considered for the assignment, should submit information in the format indicated in the attachment to this letter for expression of interest. 7. Criteria for Evaluation of EOI The EOIs would be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria. I) Past Experience of the firm in the following areas: (i) IT consulting and Implementation of large egovernance projects a Country of large size and diversity (Comparable to India) (ii) Establishing PMU for a Country of large size and diversity (Comparable to India) (iii) Preparing ICT strategy and IT audit

5 (iv) Experience of implementing similar World bank/ externally aided Projects in rural sector II) Financial Strength of the Consultant: Turnover figure of Last three years (at least 50 crore for each of the last three years) (i) Net Profit figure for Last three years. 8. Expressions of interest with the accompanying material should be submitted to the Mission Director, National Rural Livelihood Mission, Ministry of Rural Development within 15 days from the date of publication of this advertisement. The submission can be made between to hrs on at the address below. Mailing Address: Mission Director, National Rural Livelihood Mission Ministry of Rural Development, 6 th Floor, Hotel Samrat, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi, PIN: Phone: mdnrlmindia@gmail.com 9. Please note that no proposals are required now. On the basis of information provided by interested consultants, the project will prepare a shortlist of up to 6 consultants who will be invited to submit proposals.

6 Attachment 1: Format for Submission of Information to NMMU, NRLM, MoRD, GoI Submission Requirements A - Consultant s Company Profile: 1. Organizational: Provide a brief description of the background and organization of your firm/entity. The brief description should include ownership details, date and place of incorporation of the firm, objectives of the firm, availability of appropriate skills among staff, brochures etc. 2. Financial: Provide the turn over and net worth of the company on the basis of the audited accounts of the previous three financial years i.e , , B - Consultant s Experience 1. Description of minimum three similar assignments undertaken by the consultant in past five years. 2. Experience in conducting similar assignments. 3. General qualifications and experience and number of key staff appropriate for the assignment If the Consultant has formed a consortium, all the above details of each member of the consortium and the name of the lead partner, shall be provided.