I-MESA: Evaluation and Studies

What is I-MESA Evaluation and Studies?

I-MESA Evaluation and Studies is one component of the Central Sector Scheme "Information, Monitoring, Evaluation and Social Audit" (I-MESA) run by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. According to the Department, I-MESA is an umbrella scheme that lets the Ministry examine how its welfare schemes are working on the ground and share information about that work. Its guidelines are in force from 4 October 2023 up to 31 December 2027.

The scheme is not a benefit paid to citizens. It is the machinery the Ministry uses to monitor, evaluate and audit its own programmes. The schemes for Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, transgender persons and others. The "Evaluation and Studies" component specifically pays for independent evaluations and research studies of those schemes.

What does the Evaluation and Studies component do?

I-MESA has five components, according to the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment:

• Information Dissemination, publicising the Ministry's schemes and results.
• Project Monitoring Unit; tracking implementation and spending.
• Central Smart Surveillance Unit; technology-based monitoring.
• Social Audit — community-level verification of scheme delivery.
• Evaluation and Studies, the component covered by this guide.

The Evaluation and Studies component funds third-party evaluations, impact assessments and research studies of the Ministry's schemes. The purpose, according to the Department, is to build institutionalised mechanisms for transparency and accountability, to generate lessons that can improve schemes in real time, and to disseminate that knowledge among stakeholders. In practice this means the Ministry commissions studies that ask whether a scheme is reaching its intended beneficiaries, whether the money is being spent effectively, and how the design could be improved.

Who is eligible for I-MESA Evaluation and Studies?

Because this is a research-and-monitoring component rather than a welfare benefit, "eligibility" applies to institutions, not individuals.

Who can take part:

• Research institutions, universities, think tanks and professional evaluation agencies that are engaged by the Ministry; usually through a tender or an empanelment process, to conduct a specific study.

Who cannot apply:

• Individual citizens cannot apply for any personal grant, scholarship or cash benefit under this component. It does not provide money to a person.
• Members of the public who are beneficiaries of the Ministry's schemes do not apply here; they interact with I-MESA only when they are consulted or surveyed as part of a social audit or evaluation study.

This is the single most common misunderstanding: I-MESA Evaluation and Studies is an internal governance tool, and no individual should expect a direct payout from it.

What documents are required?

Documents are relevant only for an organisation bidding to conduct a study, not for a citizen:

How to apply (for research and evaluation agencies)

1. A qualified research or evaluation agency watches for tenders or expressions of interest published by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on socialjustice.gov.in and on the Government e-procurement portal.
2. The agency prepares a technical and financial proposal for the specific study set out in the tender, showing its methodology, team and cost.
3. The agency submits the proposal through the prescribed route before the deadline; the Ministry evaluates bids and awards the study to the selected agency, which then carries out the evaluation and submits its report.

Why this is better read as part of a wider page

I-MESA Evaluation and Studies is a genuinely narrow, administrative component with little published citizen-facing material, and it offers no individual benefit. Readers searching for it are usually either research agencies looking for tenders, or citizens who have mistaken it for a scholarship or grant. For the latter, the honest answer is short: this is not a scheme you apply to for money. It may serve readers better as a short section inside a broader explainer on how the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment monitors and evaluates its schemes than as a large standalone guide. Tenders and study reports, when issued, are published on socialjustice.gov.in.