Data Governance Quality Index: NITI Aayog

• 03 Oct 2020

Why in News

The Department of Fertilizers (Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers) has been ranked 3^rd out of the 65 Ministries/Departments with a score 4.11 on a scale of 5 on Data Governance Quality Index (DGQI).

• It has been ranked 2^nd amongst the 16 Economic Ministries/Departments.

Key Points

• Data Governance Quality Index (DGQI) survey was conducted by Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), Niti Aayog to assess different Ministries/Departments' performance on the implementation of Central Sector Schemes (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS).
• Objective: To drive healthy competition among them and promote cooperative peer learning from best practices.
• Benefits: Improve the implementation framework of government policies, schemes and programmes to achieve the desired goals.
• Six major themes of DGQI: Data Generation; Data Quality; Use of Technology; Data Analysis, Use and Dissemination; Data Security and HR Capacity and Case Studies.
• Ministries/Departments were classified in six categories: Administrative, Strategic, Infrastructure, Social, Economic and Scientific.

Central Schemes

• The central schemes are divided into Central Sector Schemes and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS).
• Central sector schemes:
  
  • These schemes are 100% funded by the Central government.
  • Implemented by the Central Government machinery.
  • Formulated on subjects mainly from the Union List.
  • E.g.: Bharatnet, Namami Gange-National Ganga Plan, etc.
• Centrally Sponsored Schemes are the schemes by the centre where there is financial participation by both the centre and states.
• Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) are again divided into Core of the Core Schemes, Core Schemes and Optional schemes.
• Currently, there are 6 core of the core schemes while 22 core schemes.
• Most of these schemes prescribe specific financial participation by states. For example, in the case of MGNREGA, state governments have to incur 25% material expenditure.
• The 6 core of the core CSS are:
  
  • National Social Assistance Programme
  • Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program
  • Umbrella Scheme for Development of Scheduled Castes
  • Umbrella Programme for Development of Scheduled Tribes
  • Umbrella Programme for Development of Minorities
  • Umbrella Programme for Development of Other Vulnerable Groups

Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office

• The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) was constituted in September 2015 by merging the erstwhile Program Evaluation Office (PEO) and the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO).
• It is an attached office under NITI Aayog, aimed at fulfilling the organization’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mandate and building the M&E ecosystem in India.
• Its vision is to improve sustainable outcomes and impacts of the government. It aims to enable high-quality monitoring and evaluation of government programs to improve effectiveness, efficiency, equity and sustainability of service delivery, outcomes and impacts.
• Monitoring through Output-Outcome Framework: In accordance with the Union Budget for 2019-20, the Output-Outcome Framework represents an important reform towards outcome-based monitoring.This is a paradigm shift from measuring simply physical and financial progress, to a governance model based on outcomes. DMEO has been working with Ministries and Departments to develop this framework since 2017.
• Evaluation: The Government has assigned DMEO, NITI Aayog the responsibility to conduct independent third-party evaluation of all the CSS in a time-bound manner so that the findings of the evaluation are made available to appropriate authorities for determining the rationalization of the schemes.

Source: PIB