Analysis of Information Education and Communication (IEC) budgets, expenditure and approach of nationally important schemes across five states On Going

Duration : December 2022 to June 2023

Status: On-Going

Funder/ Partner : UNICEF India Country Office

Information Education and Communication (IEC) is an important component of any developmental scheme implementation. These IEC/BCC/CBE activities form a critical part of all the programmes/schemes implementation aimed to ensure its intended reach and are provided with the funds/resources for the same.  However, many a times these IEC/BCC/CBE activities fail to create the demand for services as envisaged in the first place. These get reflected in the low uptake of the scheme/ programme and in turn in low expenditures. A review of the IEC/BCC efforts under schemes which are large in terms of scale and critical in terms of development can provide significant insights for not only improving the efficacy of IEC activities of that scheme but also for IEC strategies as a whole. The deep dive will also include an identifying the key gaps and barriers in effectively planning, implementation and monitoring of IEC activities during discussions held with policy makers and implementers at different levels.

This study looks into five major Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), namely:

1. National Health Mission (Min of Health and Family Welfare)
2. Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0- (Min of Women and Child Development)
3. Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen)- Min of Drinking Water and Sanitation
4. National Rural Livelihood Mission (Ministry of Rural Development) and
5. Samagra Shiksha (Ministry of Education)

Key objectives include:

1. To analyse the planning, prioritisations and execution of IEC budgets, along with its physical and financial progress, and review implementation mechanisms at the state level for the identified five schemes.
2. To decipher the unfolding of IEC budgets at the district level and below focusing on the approach for IEC activities including its rationale and implementation.

3.To identify the strategies for a) better utilisation of IEC budgets, b) enhanced efficacy of the IEC efforts and c) addressing the challenges that are likely to be faced during IEC planning and implementation efforts

The study will be conducted in five states of Tamil Nādu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha and Assam. The experiences of these diverse states have the potential to provide us the insights on the range of issues around the IEC budgets, activities, utilisation and impacts.

Project Contact: Madhusudhan B V Rao