Background
For over 50 years, UNDP has been privileged to support some of India’s most important development initiatives. UNDP provides its trademark capacity development support services to strengthen implementation of government programmes and schemes and has the capacity to provide a full range of development support services to accelerate implementation of government schemes and programmes.
The project 'Disha - Creating Employment and Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Women in India’ represents a partnership between UNDP India, IDF, the IKEA Foundation and Xyntéo (a private sector advisory firm) with the ambitious goal to touch the lives of one million Indian women in 3 years through training, employment and entrepreneurial skills development, as well as development of a new model of public-private collaboration that can be adapted and replicated across India by the end of this ‘proof of concept’ phase in 2017.
The project adopts a twin strategy. One element will focus on identifying opportunities for skilled personnel in the business sector and entrepreneurial opportunities in their supply chain. The second will focus on mobilization and capacity building of women so that they avail of the opportunities arising from the business sector in a manner that is in harmony with their aspirations and needs. The project will be implemented in collaboration with Government, industries and implementing agencies who will be identified through due diligence process and will leverage on the existing Government programmes/schemes and existing platforms to reach the goal.
Common Service Centres
One of the major objectives of the project is to support and build capacities of the institutions that are mandated to promote skilling and entrepreneurship in the country. One of such institution that has been a key vehicle for promoting rural entrepreneurship across the country are the Common Service Centre’s (CSC’s). Besides providing sustainable digital access to rural communities they have been tasked for giving the necessary impetus for upliftment of the rural community with a focus on rural entrepreneurship & market mechanisms.
More than 2.2 lakh CSC have been started and most of them in rural and semi-urban areas. Although there has been a wide network of these centres that have been started due to the proactive approach of the government by enabling them with connectivity and a host of G2C and B2C services, a lot still remains to be done to convert them into profitable and sustainable businesses. The impact assessment report of CSC’s in India by the International Telecommunication Union (May 2013 ) highlights that VLE’s who have continued to be at the fore-front of offering private and public services, often serving as ambassadors for the scheme; have surprisingly been the most neglected lot in the scheme.
One-Stop Shops and Common Service Centre in Telangana
Department of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Government of Telangana, have established One Stop Shop (OSS) or Palle Samagra Seva Kendra to have Digital Local Governance at all Gram Panchayats. The OSS are set up at the Gram Panchayat level with the objective to digitally deliver Government services (G2C) like pensions, insurance, utility payment services, Mee Seva services apart from the Banking Correspondent functions. These centres are also envisaged to deliver B2C services which can be a potential stream of revenue generation for the VLEs. A sustainable business model needs to be developed around this.
The programme was launched on 2 October 2015 with 100 centres and had plans to scale up in phases. 1000 centres have been rolled out by 02 October 2016. VLEs have been selected for 851 centres where Banking Correspondent work has already started. The Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty-SERP plays a key role in the selection of VLEs through the consensus from Gram Sabha and vetted by the Sarpanch. Stree Nidhi is a financial institution promoted by the Government and the SERP Mandal Samakhyas to supplement the credit flow to self-help groups in the villages. The VLEs at the OSS have been provided with Laptops, Printers, and Scanners from the Stree Nidhi fund on loan basis. The functioning and Monitoring of the centres is the responsibility of Stree Nidhi officials at the State, District and sub-district levels. The Department of IT E&C, Government of Telangana provides the platform for the functioning of OSS centres. It also conducts regular capacity building programmes for the VLEs.
UNDP is committed to strengthening and supporting the VLE’s network and make CSC a hub of economic activity by partaking of the new economic opportunities leading to development of viable and sustainable business models for inclusive growth in rural areas.
UNDP plans to engage the services of a consultant to prepare a sustainability plan for the Village Level Entrepreneurs running the One-Stop Shop-CSC in Telangana, based on a review of best practices in the sector and clear analysis of the ground situation.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Review of best practices from within India and across the globe of village level enterprises providing governance, market-linkage, financial inclusion and other digital services;
- Analyse and identify key factors that contributes to the success of CSC as business enterprises;
- Analyse and identify key challenges and issues that impede the success of CSC as business enterprises;
- Conduct comprehensive and extensive mapping up of the services that can be offered by the CSC, including innovative and out-of-box possibilities;
- Identify new lines of businesses to diversify the service offerings and revenue earning of the CSC and VLE;
- Conduct time-and-motion studies of VLE operating CSC to understand capacity utilisation in terms of time spent by the operator in CSC operations;
- Develop operational designs for the CSC-OSS for Disha project based on different scenarios existing in the villages as listed earlier. The operating design has to provide for the suit of services offered by the CSC-OSS, capacity building required for the VLE, etc.
- The scenarios will be based on a mix of the following parameters:
- Quality of data connectivity
- Size and paying capacity of market for CSC-OSS services
- Educational/entrepreneurial ability of VLE.
- Using these factors, it is possible to create several scenarios in which the actual CSC will operate. The design has to be developed for each of these scenarios (as illustrated below). Depending on the understanding developed by the Consultant, the maximum number of scenarios need to be provided for.
Parameter Scenario1 Scenario2
Quality of data connectivity Very good Middle
Size and paying capacity of market for CSC-OSS services Very good Low
Educational/entrepreneurial ability of VLE High Low
8. Develop business plan for each operational design developed as above. The plan should have clear data on P&L, working capital requirements, returns on investment, break-even points etc.
9. To suggest measures for strengthening the VLE network formally so as to increase peer learning and sharing of best practices.
Deliverables
The Consultant will produce three documents.
- A best practices report on the CSC model, with focus steps being taken by the CSC SPV and SCA’s for ensuring long term sustainability, and a summary of lessons relevant to the Disha project (related to point 1. to 3. and 9. above);
- Operational design document for the CSC-OSS for Disha project based on different scenarios existing in the villages as listed earlier. The operating design has to provide for the suit of services offered by the CSC-OSS, capacity building required for the VLE, etc. (related to point 4. to 7. above);
- Business plan document, for each of the operating designs, for the CSC-OSS covering the sustainability plan (related to point 8. above).
Reporting requirements
- The Consultant will report to the Project Manager – Disha, UNDP.
Payment terms
Consultancy fee shall be paid based on the deliverables as per below:-
- Submission of Inception Report, Methodology, Activities, Timelines - 20%;
- Best Practices Report on CSC - 25%;
- Submission of Operational design and Business Plan documents - 25%;
- Submission and Acceptance of all the three reports - 30%.
Competencies
Functional Competencies
Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise
- Excellent analytical and writing skills;
- Sound knowledge and understanding of the CSC project for promoting rural entrepreneurship;
- Good and sound knowledge of the Fintech sector, especially with respect to E-Governance;
- Understanding of gender issues;
- Working knowledge of computers including MS Office package is essential;
- Good and sound knowledge of Accounting, Finance and financial modelling Excel skills;
- Ability to work with minimal supervision
Communication skills
- Good communication, interpersonal skills, with an ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.
Core Competencies
- Demonstrates/safeguards ethics and integrity;
- Ability to work independently and under pressure.
Language Requirements
- Fluency in English is essential;
- Knowledge of Telugu would be an asset.
Required Skills and Experience
Academic:
- Post-graduate Degree in Business Management, Economics, Social Sciences, Development Studies or related fields.
Experience:
- A minimum of 5 years’ experience in a senior level of responsibility in conducting research studies/ conducting business and financial modelling of small businesses. Experience in fintech /development sector/gender/livelihood, skill development, enterprise development and/or related fields is desirable.
Evaluation Criteria:
Cumulative analysis: The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
- Responsive;
- Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical Criteria weight - 70%.
Financial Criteria weight - 30%.
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Criteria for Technical Evaluation would be as under:
- Working experience with CSC project /research agencies/ Government or bilateral/multilateral agencies - 20%;
- Experience and knowledge of business modelling, accounting, financial analysis - 20%;
- Experience and knowledge of Fintech sector and E-governance - 30%.
Documents to be submitted by Consultants:
- A detailed technical proposal including understanding of the assignment, methodology, timelines and deliverables); - there is no standard template for this;
- Offerors Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual Contractor Assignment. Kindly quote your lump sum consultancy fee only. The payment shall be made based on specific deliverables of the assignment. (Kindly note: prior approved travel, boarding & lodging expense will be reimbursed as per actuals in line with UNDP rules. Please do not include these in your lumpsum consultancy fee);
- Completed and signed P-11 form for ICs.
Forms / templates can be downloaded from:
http://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/operations/careers/
Note:
- Any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone, relocation charges etc. would not be reimbursed;
- Travel, lodging and boarding as per UNDP rules subject to prior approval;
- Individuals working with institutions may also apply, contract would be issued in the name of institution for the specific services of individual;
- Please note proposals without financial proposal will not be considered.
Important Note: Please ensure all the documents to be uploaded should be clubbed in one PDF file for uploading, as the system has provision for uploading only one file.
For any clarification please write to: manikandan.srinivasan@undp.org.