Terms of Reference for Creation of Website

1.Background

1.1 The Government of Tamilnadu (GOTN), has made poverty reduction (focusing on women and children), central to all its policies. 

1.2 GOTN has sought World Bank assistance to provide additional support to help in reducing the incidence of poverty. The Bank has agreed in principle to support the preparation of the proposed Tamilnadu Empowerment and Poverty Reduction Project (TNEPRP). The project aims to bring about rapid change in the social and economic empowerment of the poor and disadvantaged people in rural Tamil Nadu, in order to improve their livelihoods and quality of life using CDD approach

1.3. The objectives of the proposed project would be to improve livelihoods and empower the poor through:(a) developing and strengthening pro-poor local institutions/groups (including Gram Panchayats); (b) building skills and capacities of the poor; and (c) financing productive demand-driven sub-project investments. 

1.4. The project would consist of the following components/subcomponents: 

(A) Village Livelihood Program 
A1. Forming and Strengthening Local Institutions
A2. Village Fund
A3. Gram Panchayat Incentive Fund

(B) District and State Support to Village Livelihood Program
B1. Capacity Building at the State and District level 
B2. Support for Livelihoods 

(C) Project Management including Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning.

1.5 The project will be implemented over 6 years and in 15 districts and 70 blocks covering approximately 3,50,000 rural households scattered over 2300 villages and Gram Panchayats. 

1.6. Innovative implementation arrangements are proposed for the project. The state and the district units of the project will be part of independent societies formed at the state and district levels

State Level:

At the state level, it is proposed to promote Tamil Nadu Puthuvazhvu Society (TNPVS), while at the district level District Puthuvazhvu Society (DPVS) will be formed. The State Unit (SU), located in TNPVS will be responsible for over all management, co-ordination and implementation of the project. 

District Level:

The District Unit (DU), hosted by DPVS will be the implementing agency of the project at the district level. At the block level, a block disability facilitation agency will support the project processes for the disabled and vulnerable. 

Cluster Level:

At the cluster level, the project facilitation teams (covering 10-15 panchayats) hosted directly by the project or the NGOs will provide multiple types of support to the village level institutions of the poor including the Self Help Groups (SHGs), Panchayat Level Federations (PLFs), Village Poverty Reduction Committees (VPRCs), Economic Activity Groups (EAGs) and their higher level federations. The areas of support would include social mobilization, capacity and skill building, micro finance/business finance, livelihoods planning and sub-project processes and accountability & accounting. 

Village Level:

At the village level, VPRC will take full responsibility for implementing the project. It is the critical link between the community and the project and includes representation from the Gram Panchayat (GP), the SHGs and the poor drawn from vulnerable groups. The SHGs and the activity groups are the chief vehicles through which project benefits reach the poor. 

1.7. To test the approaches outlined in the Project Implementation Plan of the main project, under the Japan Social Development Fund, key activities will be pilot tested to carry the lessons learnt to the project. As one of the activities under JSDF, it is proposed to create a web site to provide information on the project activities to the public. 

1.8.The Tamil Nadu Poverty Reduction and Empowerment Society proposes to utilize the services of an agency for the creation, development and maintenance of website for publicizing the project strategies and action plans 

2. Justification for the Consultancy

2.1.The transparency and accountability requirements in managing this project are very high. Transparency and accountability in all the processes is one of the key project non-negotiables. Thus it will be the challenge for the project functionaries and resource agency to dovetail with other functional teams for meeting their needs. 

2.2. As part of the communication strategy the project will make full use of ICT applications to achieve the project principles of transparency, accountability and partnerships. For this purpose the project will develop a portal.

1. Right to information – the target poor women, public in general and their representatives can access the information about the project.

2. Web based information on the progress and management information system data.
3. Periodical release of Annual reports, case studies and other documents. 

4. Progress calendars and other boards indicating progress at the village level to be displayed at Panchayats, PFTs, District and State Units.

5. Publishing articles in Tamil and English mainstream media

3. Objectives of the Consultancy

As a first step towards ensuring accountability and transparency, it is proposed to develop a comprehensive Website (public domain - bilingual). 

The central purpose of the assignment is to design and implement a comprehensive portal for TNEPRP. The portal should give information about the project and its activities, partners, key stakeholders and other information. Monthly/quarterly updation of data based on need is envisaged.

4. Scope, approach and methodology

.The following information will be available at the portal:
· Details about the project districts and villages - based on GIS 
· Project Implementation Plan and Community Operation Manuals
· PIP details village wise, the livelihood plans and vulnerability sub-plans
· Funds released to the villages and periodical progress reports 
· Newsletter and bulletin board
· Maintain the database of resource organizations, appraisers and resource persons, marketing outlets. The community and other stakeholders can access this.
· Intranet mail for the staff and community.

The methodology would include use of tools like Flash and other multi media techniques to make the website attractive as well as informative. The agency would be required to obtain domain name as required by the organization and maintain the site for specific period, requested by the client.

5.Tasks to be carried out

Task 1: Obtain a domain name as per client’s request and register it for three years

Task 2: Create a comprehensive bilingual (English and Tamil) website with menus, sub menus providing all information about the project and the pilots.

Task 3: Provide links to appropriate related sites as required by the client.

Task 4: Update and maintain the web site for a period of one year and renew it on mutual consent after one year.

6.Time Schedule

The entire work should be completed within 30 days after the award of contract. Schedule of work to be carried out are detailed in the payment terms below.

7.Consultant’s qualification

The agency should have previous experience of creating, developing and maintaining portals for large organizations for a period not less than three years. The team leader should have professional/ Post Graduate IT qualification with exposure to multi media applications. 

8.Services to be provided by the client

The Client shall provide all details relating to the project documents, reports that are required for the creation and development of website. 

9.Payment conditions From the date of Contract

i) Inception report and registration of domain name - One week
ii) Interim report with draft details of portal along with presentation - Two weeks
iii) Draft final report incorporating changes suggested by the client - Three weeks
iv) Final report with uploaded information - Four weeks

10. Ownership

The contents of the portal will not be altered, updated or deleted without the prior permission from the client. The agency shall not use the domain for any advertisements without the prior permission of the client.