TSC for four states under Rural Connectivity Investment Program, India. ADB funded.

Technical Support Consulting Services (TSC) for the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal for Rural Connectivity Investment Program. India. ADB Funded Project.

MSV International Inc has been engaged on The Technical Support Consultant (TSC) by the National Rural Roads Development Agency (NRRDA) to assist the state IAs of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal in implementing road safety measures, conduct maintenance of PMGSY roads, check and monitor compliance of the subprojects under ADB financing with the agreed safeguard requirements throughout the project cycle, and conduct impact monitoring of the Program. The TSC has been engaged to cover the following scope of activities:

  1. Monitoring at the implementation stage of batch I, II & III under Rural Connectivity Investment Program in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
  2. Preparation Stage of Batch III in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
  3. Implementation Stage of Project 1, 2 & 3 under Rural Connectivity Investment Program in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
  4. Impact Monitoring, study of the Project under Rural Connectivity Investment Program
  5. Gender Mainstreaming
  6. PPMS Monitoring

The TSC team will consist of multiple units, each having 4 experts covering (a) road safety, (b) social safeguards and socioeconomic impact monitoring, (c) environmental safeguards, and (d) Road maintenance, all based in the capital of each state.

Objectives:

The primary objectives of the services to be provided by the TSC are:

  1. Road Safety
    • Conduct systematic road safety auditing of 10% of DPRs including preparation of formal road safety audit and safety check reports; Conduct systematic road safety inspections on a randomly selected sample of roads under maintenance, and document issues and countermeasures;
    • Prepare half-yearly Summary Road Safety Monitoring reports;
    • Provide training and support to PIUs and PICs;
    • Assist SRRDAs and PIUs with road safety complaints and accident investigations; and
    • Assess the effectiveness of RSA procedures and recommend improvements as needed.
  2. Social Safeguards
    • Check compliance of subprojects with CPF provisions during subproject preparation and implementation;
    • Prepare due diligence reports on a randomly selected sample of roads for all Project tranches; and
    • Monitor and evaluate implementation of the community participation process prescribed in CPF and recommend improvements to the participatory process to ensure broader participation of rural population in subproject formulation.
  3. Environmental Safeguards
    • Assist in reviewing the ECOP checklists and road specific EMPs for all road subprojects and ensure that they have been prepared in accordance with requirements of the EARF Prepare state level IEE reports based on the completed ECOP checkilsts• ; and
    • Prepare monitoring and due diligence reports on a randomly selected sample of roads for all Project tranches.
  4. Road Maintenance
    • Conduct systematic checking of road maintenance management plans and conduct maintenance inspections;
    • Prepare half-yearly Road Condition and Maintenance Audit Reports;
    • Provide training and support to PICs, PIUs or Zilla Panchayats as needed;
    • Review the effectiveness of existing maintenance procedures and recommend improvements as needed; and
    • Provide advise to NRRDA for the maintenance module of the Online Maintenance and Monitoring System (OMMS).
  5. Gender Mainstreaming
    • Provide training and support to PICs, PIUs on implementing and monitoring the Gender Action Plan activities at the field level; and Monitor and report on the overall implementation of relevant activities included in the Gender Action Plan for Project I, Project II, and Project III.