Location : Home based, INDIA
Application Deadline : 27-Sep-13
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : National Consultant
Languages Required : English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)
05-Oct-2013
Duration of Initial Contract :
Forty Five working days spread over three month. .
Background
The Election Commission conducts the entire process of elections to the office of the President, Vice President, Parliament and the State Assemblies. In the performance of its functions ECI prepares, maintains and periodically updates the Electoral Rolls, supervises the nominations of candidates, registers political parties, monitors the election campaigns, including funding of candidates. The Commission’s journey has witnessed a change in both quality and quantity of its operations, over the last 63 years.
UNDP has been working with Election Commission of India since 2011. The partnership started with UNDP support to the newly established India International Institute on Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM), New Delhi as a training and resource centre to meet the demand for capacity development on electoral management from other countries. UNDP also promotes and supports South-South cooperation through this partnership. Documentation of good practices in all areas of election management is also one of the key focus areas along with facilitation of visits of officials from Election Management Bodies from SAARC as well as other developing countries.
It is a well-known fact that without money, multi-party democracy cannot function. However, ‘Money Power’ involves certain risks like:
- Uneven playing field and lack of fair competition;
- Political Exclusion i.e. Certain sectors are at a disadvantage;
- Co-opted politicians under campaign debts;
- Tainted Governance and Rule of Law undermined.
The Commission is now seriously engaged in curbing the influence of money power in elections, during General elections to Assembly / Parliamentary constituencies. The Election Commission has formulated a robust mechanism for monitoring election expenditure and at the same time seeks people’s participation through a 24X7 toll free complaint monitoring and quick response system. This monitoring mechanism was successfully implemented in the Legislative Assembly elections of Bihar state in October, 2010. The same was subsequently implemented more effectively and systematically from 2010 to 2013 in the Assembly/ Bye- Elections in the States of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Karnataka resulting in huge cash interception/ seizures during the Assembly elections which are chronologically shown as under:
- Assam- 2.24 crore
- West Bengal- 8.54 crores
- Kerala- 1.14 crores
- Tamil Nadu- 36.54 crores.
- Puducherry- 0.12 crores.
- Uttar Pradeshl- 36.29 crores.
- Uttarakhand- 1.30 crores
- Punjab- 11.51 crores.
- Manipur- 1.08 crores.
- Goa- 0.60 crores.
- Gujarat- 2.18 crore.
- Himachal Pradesh- 0.10 crore.
- Jharkhand- Rajya Sabha elections- 2.15 crore.
- 46 Bye-elections/ Andhra Pradesh- 30.65 crore.
- Nagaland- 3.36 crore.
- Meghalaya- 0.73 crore.
- Tripura- 0.051 crore.
- Karnataka- 21.44 crore.
The Commission has initiated clear and well organized election expenditure monitoring measures in the aforesaid Assembly elections/ Rajya Sabha and Bye- elections of 18 states mentioned in the preceding paragraph, which had the following main features:
- Opening of a separate bank account by each contesting candidate for incurring all major election expenses through cheque / demand draft drawn on this bank account only;
- Flying Squads ( Quick Response Teams) / Static Surveillance Teams headed by Executive Magistrates are formed under each Police Station to track illegal cash transaction or any distribution liquor or any items for bribing the voters and to attend to all complains of election expenditure;
- All airports in the State, major railway stations, hotels, farm houses, hawala agents, financial brokers, cash couriers, pawn brokers and other suspicious agencies/persons used for movement of undisclosed cash are to be kept under close surveillance by the Income Tax Department and necessary action taken as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act;
- Monitoring of suspicious cash withdrawal from any bank account during election process;
- Expenditure Observers are appointed for each district with senior officers from Income Tax Department, Customs & Central Excise Department and other finance & accounts services from outside the State to oversee and report on the election expenditure by the candidates during election;
- Assistant Expenditure Observers are appointed for each constituency;
- Shadow Observation Register is maintained in each constituency for each candidate to record evidences of major expenses observed during the election;
- Video Surveillance Team is constituted with camera persons with Govt. officials in each team to videograph major election campaign expenses;
- Accounting Team is constituted in each constituency to maintain Shadow Observation Register with the folder of evidence;
- Media Certification and Media Expenditure Monitoring Committee (MCMC) constituted to monitor both print and electronic media including cable network for election advertisement and suspected Paid News.
Strategy: Election Expenditure Monitoring mechanism has been adopted to curb the misuse of money power during elections to ensure a free and fair adult franchise:
- Massive campaign for ethical voting through media, involvement of students of schools and colleges, NGOs and CSOs etc.;
- Announcement by Flying squads through public address system the legal provisions against bribery;
- Associating the Income Tax Dept. (DGIT (Investigation) through CBDT) to track illegal cash, DRI (CBEC) to track drugs, FIU for sharing intelligence, Enforcement Directorate to track foreign Exchange, Police Dept. and Excise Dept. of the respective States to check other crimes related to bribery, terror, theft, narcotics, illegal liquor etc. and the abuse of money power in elections;
- Associating State Excise Deptt. For maintaining and tracking production, distribution and storage of illicit liquor during the election process;
- A strict vigil was maintained over the movement of cash etc. through airports/ airstrips/ Helipads and a standard operating procedure (SOP) has been developed and implemented by the Bureau of Civil Aviation in consultation with the Commission. While the CISF has been requested to keep strict vigil at the airports of the poll going States to track and inform CBDT about illegal movement of cash/bullion;
- The CBDT has been directed to operate Air Intelligence Units ( AIU’s) in all the airports of the respective poll going states till the date of completion of elections;
- The Govt. Of India unit like the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has been involved to provide real time information on suspicious cash transactions in banks and to keep close watch on withdrawal of cash exceeding the specified limits from the Bank Accounts in poll going States;
- BSF and SSB have been requested to keep strict vigil over movement of illegal items, cash etc. through international borders of poll going States meant to lure voters.
Duties and Responsibilities
To Document the Election Expenditure Monitoring Programme undertaken during 2010-2013 in different states and to focus on planning, strategy, execution, outcomes, innovations, best practices and learning. The work shall involve taking inputs from the ECI, CEO’s of the 16 states/ UT’s, at times from Districts and also from the media or CSOs both in terms of available documents, reports and material and also through queries and seeking specific information. The documentation will be carried in close coordination and under the supervision of the ECI.
Deliverable and time frame:
- A complete report with the best practices on the work done by the Election Expenditure Monitoring Division of the ECI in Hard Copies (10 in number) and also on a CD readable on MS Office;
- The total timeframe of the assignment will be 45 days.
Competencies
Functional Competencies:
- Good communication and interpersonal skills, with ability to work with MS Office;
- Understanding of public finance and election management issues;
- Willingness to travel;
- Knack for capturing the interesting events/photographs/videos;
- Fluency in English and excellent writing skills.
Corporate Competencies:
- Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
- Positive, constructive attitude to work;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Required Skills and Experience
Academic Qualifications:
- Master’s Degree in Economics, Statistics, Accounts or Business and Public Administration, Political Sciences or related disciplines.
Years of experience:
- At least 10 years of relevant experience and expertise in qualitative and quantitative documentation;
- Experience of conducting research on public policy/finance/election issues;
- Past Experience of conducting study on election expenditure would be an advantage.
Language:
- Fluent in English.
Submission of Proposal:
Proposed Work Methodology:
- Consultant shall specify the proposad Work Methodology or work plan for undertaking the assignment.
Financial Proposal:
- Consultant should specify his/her daily consultancy fee;
- Travel expenses would be handled separately by UNDP as per rules.
CV:
- Consultant should submit his/her updated CV with three references.
Notes:
- Miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone and local travel etc. would not be reimbursed;
- 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;
- CV ,Financial proposal and proposed Work Methodology can be clubbed in one file for uploading.
Payment Schedule:
- 20% consultancy fee would be paid on submission of agreed work plan;
- 30% consultancy fee would be paid on submission of draft report;
- 50% consultancy fee would be paid on submission and acceptance of final report.
Evaluation
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:
Cumulative analysis
When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:- Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
- 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 70% technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Criteria:
Technical
Technical
- Qualification of the Consultant- 10%;
- Relevant work Experience - 30%;
- Proposed Work Methodology- 30%.
Please write to sandeep.sharma@undp.org for any queries.
Proposals have to be submitted online only, proposals sent directly to above email id will not be considered.
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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