Community HandbookMeghalaya Community-Led Landscape Management Project (CLLMP)

Introduction

Components of the Projects

Project Implementation Institutions

Project Implementation Stages

Grievance Redress Mechanism

Financial Management

Procurement Management

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Table of Contents

Community Operations ManualMeghalaya Community-Led Landscape Management Project (CLLMP)

IntroductionClimate change and anthropogenic activities have impacted severely on the state of the natural resources in your village, and your forests, lands and water sources are degrading rapidly. The majority of Meghalaya’s population rely on these natural resources for their primary income and livelihood. This degradation, therefore, is a major cause of concern, both from the environmental as well as the social and economic points of view. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for natural resources interventions to look at reversing this situation.

The Government of Meghalaya has addressed this issue holistically – by adopting a community- based integrated approach to tackle the natural resources degradation. This approach is both appropriate and sustainable since most of your natural resources are owned by your village communities. In this regard, the Community-Led Landscape Management Programme of the Government of Meghalaya has adopted a system of natural resources management via a community-led landscape approach.

The Community-Led Landscape Management Project (CLLMP), which receives support from the World Bank, is a part of the CLLM-Programme.

Components of the ProjectsCLLMP has the following three components:1. Strengthening Knowledge and Capacity of Communities for Natural Resources Management2. Community-Led Landscape Planning and Implementation3. Project Management and Governance

Focus of CLLMPThe main focus of CLLMP is to:1. Increase the capacities of your communities and your traditional institutions (TI) by helping better manage

your natural resources including soil, springs and other water sources, forests and bio-diversity, etc.;

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2. CLLMP will be implemented in about 400 villages via a decentralised and participatory approach.

3. Financial autonomy will be given to your PRIs i.e. the Village Council (Dorbar, Nokma, Doloi) and the Village Natural Resources Management Committee (VNRMC).

4. There will be a strong focus on institution-building at the village-level. Capacity-building will be on technical and social skill-sets, including resource mapping and data collection, land use planning, project design and monitoring.

5. The Project will also extend such training to other communities beyond the 400 targeted project villages and will support efforts made by them to access funding from various rural and natural resource initiatives and schemes.

6. CLLMP will also look to improve the process and outcome delivery in your village such as financial management, procurement management, citizens’ engagement, grievance redressal and monitoring and evaluation through social audits at the community level. This will be done by developing effective systems and processes with the assistance of information technology.

Objectives of CLLMPThe project objective is “to strengthen community-led landscape management in landscapes in the state of Meghalaya.”In this respect, the Project objective will also include the following sub-objectives:

1. Sustainable Management of natural resource for economic growth: to manage and conserve the natural resources, especially forests, soil and water sources, in a manner that supports the financial and physical well-being of communities in the State

2. Institutional development: develop and institutionalise a model for government support to community-led management of natural resources that can be replicated in other parts of India.

Benefits

Benefits of the Project include the following:

1. Some members from your community will be provided with the opportunity to develop skills and capacities. These skill building exercises will include community-led project management, fiduciary skills, natural resource management, conflict resolution, etc.

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2. Those that will benefit from the project will also include your traditional institutions such as village councils and traditional leaders, community-based organisations working on natural resource management issues, women and youth groups, SHGs etc. The benefit will accrue from capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, promotion of innovative approaches and activities in NRM, access to technology for decision making and technical, managerial and financial support for preparation, and implementation of Community Natural Resource Management (CNRM) plans.

3. Partnering beneficiaries of the Project are village communities (the estimated number is not less than 100,000, of which fifty percent are women) in the targeted landscapes that depend on land, forests, water and agro-forestry for their livelihood.

4. The Project will ensure increased availability of water, biological resource and soil productivity which will impact around 55,500 ha. of land in 400 villages under different activities.

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Time Period - 5 years, from 2018 to 2023

Geographical AreaAll 6026 villages in Meghalaya, located in 11 districts, are eligible for inclusion in the CLLM-Programme.A smaller number of villages will be eligible for inclusion in the CLLMP (as planned under Component 2). These villages will be supported from the World Bank assistance. These villages will be selected from North-East Space Application Centre (NESAC) -classified set of critical landscapes. In 2012, NESAC,through its watershed-based vulnerability analysis,classifies landscapes as (i) most critical (very high priority), (ii) moderately critical (high priority), and (iii) low priority areas. Since the NESAC classification is over 5 years old, it is likely that the number of villages under the different categories may have increased over the years. Therefore, ground-truthing of classified villages will be undertaken by MBMA before intervention under the Project.

Component 1: Strengthening Knowledge and Capacity of Communities for NRMThis component will be implemented in the entire State through World Bank support. This component is related to the development of capacities through the promotion and dissemination of traditional and contemporary innovations, research, as well as monitoring and sharing best practices. This component has the following sub-components:

(i) Promotion of traditional knowledge, grass-root innovations and communicationUnder this sub-component, documentation and dissemination of traditional knowledge will be participatory, and practices related to sustainable NRM, including lessons from other NRM projects, will be taken up. District Project Management Units (DPMUs) will encourage communities to take up the CLLMP approach, and initiate small activities as a precursor to taking up larger-scale activities in NRM.

(ii) Strengthen communities through training and capacity building Under this sub-component, stakeholders’ training in relevant natural resources domain areas will be included, as well as allied areas such as project management, good governance, IT and GIS, and soft skills such as leadership, communication etc. Technical manuals and other tools will be developed and disseminated to project implementing institutions, and exposure visits will be arranged. In addition, the training infrastructure at block level, through BNRGSK/ Enterprise Facilitation Centres, will be strengthened.

(iii) Preparation of strategies, research and developmentThe activities to be taken up under this sub-component are various research studies carried out to support CLLMP. These include a baseline survey, a study to understand the drivers of deforestation and natural resource degradation, and a study related to the rehabilitation of population displaced due to mining activity.

(iv) Monitoring, learning and reportingA state-wide Management Information System (MIS) for CLLMP will be developed, which will have convergence with other databases and information systems available with the State Government. This MIS system will also help villagers, traditional leaders, farmers, Government officials, project team members, facilitating NGOs/CBOs and other stakeholders to understand roles and responsibilities, and manage their natural resources more efficiently.

Component 2: Community-led Landscape Planning and ImplementationThis component will be implemented in select villages through World Bank support. This component is concerned with the planning and implementation of community-driven management of natural resources through NRM Plans. The following sub-components are part of Component 2:

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(i) Preparation of CNRM PlansSteps to prepare Community Natural Resource Management Plans (CNRMP):

9 You will first identify the leading causes of degradation of natural resources in your areas.

9 After that, you will have to agree on actions/plans to address/mitigate the impacts while identifying new opportunities that will lead to improvement in the state of your natural resources.

9 You will develop and implement NRM plans with the help of (a) community facilitating teams (subject matter specialists) at the block level; and (b) NRM service providers at the village level.

9 Before preparing NRM plans at the village-level, the process will be preceded by community

sensitisation and mobilisation programmes which will centre on NRM and social issues, and which will be participatory. You will sign a green charter.

9 The formation of the Village NRM Committee (VNRMC), selection of its executive committee and opening of its operational bank account will follow this initial step.

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9 This will be followed by the submission of Expression of Interest (EoI) by the village for participating in CLLMP.

9 Training and capacity building of village NRM service providers and members of the VNRMC executive committee will be the next step.

9 Funds for plan preparation will be released only to those villages whose Expressions of Interest (EOI) for participation in the project are selected.

9 An agreed number of committee members will receive basic training on the project and the VNRMCs

will sign the Village Grant Agreement (VGA) with the DPMU set to carry out plan preparation as per the COM.

9 The first set of (400) villages that successfully meet the eligibility criteria will be selected for CLLMP.

EOI

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(ii) CNRM Plan ImplementationSteps

9 The cycle of plan preparation and implementation in your village will take approximately 4 years - 1 year for plan preparation, 2 years for plan implementation and 1 year for consolidation.

9 After the CNRM plan is approved, the implementation of plans will be in a staged manner, agreed through an addendum to the Village Grant Agreement (VGA) between the VNRMCs and respective DPMUs. The addendum will specify the fund releases and linked milestones and criteria for the plan.

9 After implementation of the agreed-upon criteria-based first-stage activities in their plan, you can implement the next stage of activities.

9 The interventions will include soil and water conservation measures, soil health improvement and productivity enhancement measures, spring-shed development and water management plans, nursery and agro-forestry and community forestry, optimisation of shifting cultivation, rehabilitation of areas affected by mining etc.

(iii) CNRM Implementation Support

During the implementation process of the CNRM plans the following has to be adhered to:

9 All data/ information products relating to development, governance, project design, planning, monitoring etc. will be made available at different levels, by the State Project Management Unit (SPMU) with support from the Block Project Management Units (BPMUs).

9 Data on land use, land cover and other information related to Natural Resource Management will also be represented and shared and through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) maps and other ICT tools. This data will be used to develop the CNRM plans, as well as subsequently, monitor the progress of its implementation.

9 Activities will involve acquisition of satellite data, production of maps & reports and training of technical personnel in SPMU, selected service providers (youth facilitators) and community members.

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(iv) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

9 M &E will consist of firstly, an in-house monitoring where the SPMU will monitor progress of physical targets, as well as financial and procurement monitoring, on a regular basis to assess and course-correct, as may be required.

9 The Social and Environment Monitoring Plan will be integrated along with the planning, operation and maintenance stage of the Project on a timely basis. Quarterly and six-monthly progress reports will cover compliance of safeguards issues for developing of NRM plans, implementation, screening and classification of activities.

9 There will also be a citizens’ feedback mechanism to determine the success of the project. Through citizen report cards/score cards, information will be collected during the different project stages to capture feedback on performance and areas of improvement.

9 Additionally, a separate website will be designed for the project for publishing notices, news and project documents, etc. The website will also have a system wherein feedback and suggestions from citizens can be recorded.

9 At the community level, a social audit will be carried once every six months in accordance with the procedures laid out in the COM. The responsibility for this will lie with the Social Audit Committee, which has to be socially inclusive and must have representation from women’s groups, elected representatives, traditional institutions, youth and vulnerable communities.

9 External evaluation and reporting will also be done by external agencies on annual basis, as well as mid-and end-term basis.

Component 3: Project Management and Governance The project implementation relies on a management and governance structure from the State down to the village level, with clear-cut roles and responsibilities for staff members at each level. All staff posi-tions will be filled during the pendency of the project with qualified people. This component will support the strengthening of the institutional capacity and knowledge management of the project implementing entity MBMA for the implementation and management of the project. This would include the establishment of the SPMU and 7 DPMUs, administrative support to 20 BPMUs, supervi-sion of project activities etc.

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VILLAGE LEVEL (VILLAGE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE) CLLMP is meant to be community-driven and to this end, your village will be the primary unit of planning

and implementation. The composition and role and responsibilities of the VNRMC are as follows:

z Your VNRMC will comprise of 1 male and 1 female member from each household in your village.

z You will appoint 1 executive committee who is to undertake day-to-day operations of the project.

z The committee will have a total membership of 7-9, of which 4 members will be women. Members

may be elected from Self Help Groups, Women Groups, Youth Groups etc.

z The VNRMC is responsible overall for preparation and implementation of plans and management of

project fund, procurement and supervising, forming various sub committees under the project, etc.

z The VNRMC will select upto 8 youth as NRM facilitators who will undertake training and provide ser-

vices in the core areas of forest, soil and water, environment, social, community and rural develop-

ment management.

z These facilitators will support the VNRMC executive committee by preparing and implementing CNRM

plans. Additionally, the VNRMC would budget and pay for the services of these facilitators, as per the

type of support procured.

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Project Implementing Institutions Roles and ResponsibilitiesA successful joint relationship between your village and the VNRMC, with the Project Management Units at state, district and block level is key. Broadly speaking, the roles and responsibilities of the project implementing agencies are:

Village Community and VNRMC: Will plan and implement the village CNRM project, as per the approved plan by MBMAMBMA and Project Management Units: Provide approvals, overall coordination and technical assistance to your village; build capacities in various domain areas which initially, will be carried out through social mobilisation.

(1) VNRMC – will consist of adult males and females from your village. Its roles and responsibilities are as follows:

a. VNRMC General Council shall meet once every 3 months. The quorum shall be fulfilled by 60 % representation of total members, with at least half being women.

b. VNRMC will elect the Executive Committee comprising of 7-9 members, 4 of which will be women and 1 as the village headman.

c. From the Executive Committee, it will elect office-bearers for the positions of Chairperson, Secretary and Book-keeper, of which the position of Secretary should be filled by a woman.

d. VNRMC will have the right to remove or dissolve the Executive Committee or any member of the Executive Committee at any time during their tenure and elect new members.

e. It will review the work of the Executive Committee, against planned targets.

f. A Procurement Committee will be formulated to review financial and procurement activity, and decisions taken, as presented by the Executive Committee, once every quarter.

g. It will provide approval to the rules, new or modified, prepared by the Executive Committee.

h. VNRMC will open and maintain a bank account in its name, to be used for the purposes of CNRM plan implementation.

i. VNRMC will carry out community-level monitoring of the plan implementation, through Social Audit.

j. It will review grievance redressal activity once every quarter.

k. It will select upto 8 NRM service providers/facilitators.

(2) VNRMC Executive Committee – will consist of 7-9 members, of which at least 4 are women.

a. The VNRMC will meet regularly at least once in a month. All matters placed before it shall be decided unanimously. The quorum of Executive Body Meeting shall be fulfilled by a 60 % representation of total members of which half should be women. The attendance of the members, the date, time and venue, the agenda and all proceedings shall be recorded by the Secretary in the prescribed Minutes register, and shall be confirmed by the Chairperson or the person presiding over the meeting.

b. It will plan and implement the CNRM plan for your village which will be done in consultation with the support of the project staff at BPMU and DPMU levels.

c. It will plan the budget for the CNRM plan, and oversee proper utilisation of the money allocated.

d. It will have the power to enter into a contract with the Village NRM service providers, and make payment for their services

e. It is to set up a 3-member Purchase Committee, including 2 women members, and orient them.

f. It will carry out procurement and maintain all procurement records such as quotations, comparison statements, bills/invoices from suppliers; goods received note; stock register, payments made

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j. It will ensure monitoring and evaluation of the works carried out with the support of Line Department and submit progress reports to the concerned authorities, as required

k. It will place the proposal of selection of members for vacant posts or the resignation and expulsion of any member before the VNRMC General Council.

l. It will prepare and make the presentation of the Annual Report and Annual Accounts before the General Council.

m. The VNRMC Executive Committee will also provide for Grievance redressal.

(3) Executive Committee Office-bearers - will consist of the President, the Secretary and the Book-keeper.

Roles of the President:

a. To preside over all Executive Committee and General Council meetings of the VNRMC;

b. To represent the VNRMC in other forums and with other stakeholders and organisations; and

c. To be one of the signatories on all legal/financial documents.

Roles of the Secretary:

a. To convene and participate in the VNRMC General Council and Executive Committee meetings, and arrange for implementation of their resolutions and decisions. The secretary will also prepare agenda and minutes, and circulate the same.

b. To arrange for maintenance of records and documents as well as property relating to CLLMP, such as the Meetings/Minutes register etc. The Secretary will also prepare the Annual Report, including the Annual Accounts.

c. To facilitate all monitoring and evaluation, including the social audit.

d. To be one of the signatories for the bank account

Roles of the Book-keeper:

a. To manage the funds subject to the supervision of the Executive Committee and arrange for maintenance of the accounts of the VNRMC as per the required formats and compliances

b. Ensure that the grant received record and utilisation certificates, cash book, cheque issue/withdrawal record, bank account statements and reconciliation with the cash book are maintained, vouchers and receipts etc. are maintained on a daily or up-to-date basis.

c. To perform all financial/legal functions assigned by the Executive Committee, including the functions linked with the VNRMC bank account.

(4) NRM service providers/ facilitators - will consist of upto eight youth, and each will be trained in one of the following areas: forest, soil and water, environment, social, community and rural development management.

Role of the NRM Service Providers:

Their main role will be to help and assist the VNRMC Executive Committee to plan and implement the CNRM plans for your village.

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Project Implementation Stages The project will be implemented in 4 stages. Stage 1 is the initial preparatory stage;

Stage 2 will be the Social Mobilisation and pre-CNRM plan preparation;

Stage 3 will be CNRM Plan Preparation stage;

Stage 4 will be the CNRM Plan Implementation.

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Stage 1 – Initial Stage

The initial stage will have 2 steps. First will be the establishment of SPMU, DPMUs, BPMUs and orientation of all project staff on CLLMP. This will be responsibility of the MBMA.

Second will be the identification of NESAC- classified critical and very critical landscapes (ground - truthing), the responsibility of which will lie with the SPMU.

Stage 2 - Social Mobilisation and pre-CNRM plan preparation

This stage consists of 5 steps. The activities carried out through these steps along with the corresponding responsibilities aregiven below:

Step 1 - The DPMUs and the BPMUs under the direction of the SPMU will organize sensitisation and awareness on IBDLP and CLLMP, which will include discussions of NRM issues and the Green Citizens’ Charter with your village. They will also disseminate the Community Operations Manual;

Step 2 – Your Village and the VNRMC including its executive members will be responsible for the formation of Village NRM Executive Committee; it will be responsible opening of bank accounts for the same; and they will identify the NRM service providers who will be selected for training and capacity building;

Step 3 – The VNRMC, the Executive Committee, and the BPMU will conduct initial screening with respect to the submission of Expressions of Interest (EoI) for participation in CLLM-Project;

Step 4 – Screening of EoIs from the VNRMCs will be conducted by the DPMU followed by a recommendation which is to be made to the SPMU.

Step 5 – The SPMU together with the DPMU will provide training and capacity building exercises, and will conduct awareness, critical consultancies, research and development, and knowledge management.

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Stage 3 – CNRM Plan Preparation

This stage also consists of 5 steps. The activities and responsibilities are given in the steps below:

Step 1 – The DPMU will first release funds to the VNRMCs for CNRM Plan preparations only to those villages which have under gone training on plan preparation;

Step 2 – The VNRMC Executive Members and the SPMU will be responsible for procurement of the NRM service providers and their trainings. They will be also be tasked with the requisition for expert assistance from block level and district level experts. Finally, they will be responsible for CNRM Plan Preparation;

Step 3 – With regards to the submission of CNRM plans, the responsibility will lie with the VNRMC Executive Committee to the DPMU via the BPMU;

Step 4 – The DPMU will review and approve all CNRM Plans; and

Step 5 – The DPMU will also be responsible for plan approval and signing of Addendum with milestones to Village Grant Agreement between DPMU and VNRMC.

Stage 4 - CNRM Plan Implementation

CNRM Plan will be implemented in 4 steps. These are as follows:

Step 1 – The SPMU and DPMU will conduct training for VNRMC committee members and NRM service providers on plan implementation;

Step 2 – The SPMU will release funds in tranches to VNRMC;

SPMU VNRMC

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Step 3 – The VNRMC Purchase Committee will have the role of being responsible for procurement of materials as per agreed procedures. VNRMC Executive Committee will then be responsible for requisition for expert assistance from block level and district level experts;

Step 4 – CNRM Plan implementation and compliance will be conducted as per project requirements of which the responsibility will lie with the VNRMC Executive Committee. Internal monitoring via social audit will be conducted by the Social Audit Committee. A Grievance Redressal Mechanism will exist within the VNRMC and Project Management Units. Lastly, the SPMU and the DPMU will be responsible for constant monitoring and evaluation, and reporting.

1. FORMATION OF VNRMC, VILLAGE SELECTION FOR CLLMPBy whom: DPMU/BPMU and VNRMC By when: during community mobilisation stage

During this stage, your village will be guided and encouraged to constitute your own Village NRM Committee (VNRMC) and its Executive Committee. As per directions given in the COM, you will also have to open your own bank accounts.The roles and responsibilities of the VNRMC and its Executive Committee and office-bearers is given below.

Role and Responsibilities of the VNRMC General Council

Powers of the VNRMC General Council

9 It shall elect the Executive Committee comprising of 7-9 members, 4 of which should be women In villages where there is a Village Employment Committee (VEC), the Secretary of the VEC shall be appointed as the Secretary of the Executive Committee.

9 It shall have the right to remove or dissolve the Executive Committee of the VNRMC, or any member of the Executive Committee at any time during their tenure and elect new members.

9 It shall review and the work of the Executive Committee, against planned targets.

9 It shall set up the Purchase Committee with three members, which is a sub-committee of the Executive Committee to carry out procurement as per agreed procedures.

9 It shall review financial and procurement activities planned and completed, and decisions taken, as presented by the Purchase Committee, once a year.

9 It shall provide approval to the rules, new or modified, prepared by the Executive Committee.

9 It shall open and maintain a bank account in its name, to be used for the purposes of CNRM plan implementation.

9 It shall carry out community-level monitoring of the plan implementation, through Social Audit.

9 It shall be responsible for conducting of General Council Meeting

9 The VNRMC General Council shall meet once every 3 months. The quorum shall be fulfilled by 60 % representation of total members, with at least half being women.

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VNRMC Executive CommitteeThe VNRMC General Council would elect an Executive Committee (EC) consisting of 7-9 representatives of which a minimum of 4 would be women. The EC office-bearers would comprise of the Chairperson, Secretary and Book-keeper. Of these positions, at least one should be held by a woman. The village Headman will also be a member of this committee.

Powers and responsibilities of the VNRMC Executive Committee:

9 It shall have the responsibility of planning and implementing the CNRM plan for your village, and this will be done in consultation with the support of the project staff at BPMU and DPMU levels.

9 It shall contract the Village NRM service providers/ NRM facilitators

9 It shall plan the budget for the CNRM plan with realistic cost estimates and time lines, oversee proper utilisation of the money allocated during plan implementation and ensure financial and procurement probity.

9 It shall have the power to make and change decisions, make modifications, stay or cancel the decisions;

9 It shall maintain procurement records such as quotations, minutes, invoices; payment vouchers, etc., and books of accounts and all other supporting documents;

9 It shall select the bank signatories for the VNRMC bank account, preferably including the Secretary. At least one signatory will be a woman. The bank signatories will be selected for a period of one year. They will have the responsibility of endorsing, signing and encashing cheques. The Executive Committee has the right to remove bank signatories at any time during their tenure and elect new ones from among the existing committee members;

9 It shall ensure monitoring and evaluation of the works, and submit progress reports to the concerned authorities, as required;

9 It shall place the proposal of selection of members for vacant posts, or the resignation and expulsion of any expulsion of any member before the VNRMC General Council;

9 It shall maintain the necessary books of account;

9 It shall prepare Annual Report and Annual Accounts; and

9 Following this, it shall make presentations of these before the General Council.

Conducting of Executive Committee meeting

- The Executive Committee shall meet regularly at least once in a month, preferably on a predetermined date or on a date convened by the Secretary in consultation with the President.

- All the matters placed before the executive committee shall be decided unanimously.

- The quorum shall be fulfilled by 60 percent representation of total members of which half should be women.

- The attendance of the members, the date, time and venue, the agenda and all proceedings shall be recorded by the Secretary in the prescribed Minutes Register and shall be confirmed by the Chairperson or the person presiding over the meeting.

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Roles and responsibilities of office bearers Office bearer

Role and responsibilities

President He shall preside over all the Executive Committee and General Body meetings of the VNRMCHe shall represent the VNRMC in other forums and with other stakeholders and organisationsHe shall be one of the signatories on all legal and financial documents

Secretary He shall convene and participate in VNRMC General Council and Executive Committee meetings, and shall arrange for implementation of their resolutions and decisions. He shall prepare agenda and minutes and circulate the same.He shall arrange for maintenance of the records and documents, as well as property relating to the CLLMP, such as the Meetings/Minutes register etc. He shall prepare the Annual Report, including the Annual Accounts.He shall facilitate all monitoring and evaluation, including the social audit.

Book-keeper The book-keeper will manage the funds but this will be under the supervision of the Executive Committee. He shall arrange for maintenance of the accounts of the VNRMC as per the required formats and compliancesHe shall perform all financial/legal functions assigned by the Executive Committee, including the functions linked with the VNRMC bank account.He shall ensure that the grant received record and utilisation certificates, cash book, cheque issue/withdrawal record, bank account statements and reconciliation with the cash book are maintained, vouchers and receipts etc. are maintained on a daily or up-to-date basis.

The VNRMC will also nominate up to 8 educated youth (to undertake training in the core areas of forest, soil and water, environment, social, community and rural development management) who can be eligible to perform the duties of your village NRM service providers. They will be available to the VNRMC on contractual payment and they will assist in the preparation and implementation of the CNRM Plans.

THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EoI) by each village (or cluster of villages) will be screened under the following criteria:

Major criteria

y One female (head of the family) and one male member from each household to sign Citizens’ Green Charter

y Every member who attends the meeting for signing Citizens’ Green Charter should sign the Green Charter y Bank account for Village NRM committee is opened y Availability of undisputed land for Project y Percentage performance under various State and Centrally sponsored schemes, particularly MNREGS

(this will be an “ranking criteria” to shortlist villages if there are more number of applicants) y All activities under the Project has to be planned and in line with the guidance in the Community y Operations Manual of the Project that is available in the website www.cllmp.com or in the office of the y Project District Programme Management Unit. y Villages already covered through the Megh-LAMP Project will not be eligible for selection under CLLMP

Optional criteria

y Land dispute, if any, is resolved or failing that, is excluded from planned development y Traditional/Indigenous Technical Knowledge holders on NRM are identified y Community nursery is established y Selected upto 8 youths who will act as Village Community Facilitators in the areas of Forests, Soil and

Water, Environment, Social, Community and Rural Development, GIS and on convergence with other Resources.

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Steps:

9 Once initial screening of the EoI is completed, the BPMU will submit the screened EoIs to the respective DPMUs.

9 After validation and evaluation of its EoI, the DPMU will select the village for either the programme or the project, based on the first set that is selected.

9 For the 400 villages selected under the project, the selection will be made in proportion to the number of villages in critical landscape in each of Garo, Khasi and Jaintia regions.

9 The DPMU will decide the source of financing for each village (WB assistance / other sources under CLLM-Programme under planned convergence).

9 All those villages who submit their valid EoI’s and which are not covered under CLLM-Project will be covered under CLLM-Programme in a staged manner.

9 The DPMU will then forward the approved EoIs and names of selected villages to the SPMU for final approval, and release of funds for plan preparation (first tranche).

2. CNRM PLAN PREPARATION AND IMPLEMENTATION STAGECNRM Plan PreparationBy whom: VNRMC, supported by SPMU/DPMUWhen: After village has been selected

1. Once the EoI of your village is screened and approved by the DPMU, it will be sent to the SPMU for final approval. After this, an agreed number of committee members will receive foundational training for plan preparation. The VNRMC will sign the Village Grant Agreement with the DPMU as per COM. Following satisfactory completion of these steps, the funds for plan preparation will be released to your village.

2. The Executive Committee of the VNRMC will be responsible for the procurement of the NRM service providers and the assistance of block level and district level experts.

3. The ToRs for the service providers have to be cleared by the World Bank, and they would then be selected through an open and competitive process.

4. Thereafter, the process of the CNRM Plan preparation will begin. The SPMU, with help from the BPMU, will provide the geo-spatial data and analysis to inform the planning process in your village

5. The VNRMC and its Executive Committee, along with the village NRM service providers will develop the plan. This will be a participatory process.

Community-led visioning and planning exercise The community-led visioning and planning exercise should make use of, and build on the resource map and baseline information already collected so that your community can plan your own vision for improve-ments in the state of the natural resources in your village.

The exercise will include: y Group Discussions–Discussions amongst different age groups from your village including youth men,

youth women, men above 30, women above 30 years old.

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y Facilitating each group to discuss about the challenges related to the state of the natural resources in your village, the existing best practices and knowledge within your village, and then envisioning improvements that could enhance these natural resources while contributing to an improved resource base.

y Facilitating them to prioritize new interventions and initiatives to achieve these improvements. y Mapping out the proposed interventions and initiatives using the resource map and then writing up the

interventions in a tabular format y Copying the Vision map on paper for the purpose of recording, and attaching the group discussion points

of the different groups. The list of participants of each group may be attached for future reference. y Geo-tagging intervention sites and taking photos of sites during the planning stages and using the same

for comparison during the cycle of intervention.

Outlining Priority Areas for Intervention

9 The results of these participatory processes will lead to the identification of priority areas/critical areas for intervention, and will include their geographical location.

9 These priority areas will focus on using a landscape approach to address the lead causes of the degradation (deforestation, mining). They will then identify critical natural resources on which livelihoods depend for their conservation/ rejuvenation

9 The priority areas and selected interventions will be mapped using GIS

3. THE CNRM PLANa. Based on the priority areas, the CNRM plan consisting of areas of intervention and specific activities to address these priorities will be developed using the format available with the COM.

b. An indicative and non-exhaustive list of interventions that could be carried out in convergence with other State and Central sponsored schemes will be provided as an annexure with broad heads such as:

9 Land Management Plan

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9 Water Management Plan

9 Agro-forestry and Community Forestry

9 Optimisation of shifting cultivation

9 Rehabilitation of areas affected by mining

c. The CNRM Plan will span 3-4 years including broad objectives, anticipated outcomes and the implementation schedule for activities; the plan will have a more detailed annual plan with six-monthly milestones and realistic budget.

d. The six- monthly milestones and annual plan will detail indicators of success for each intervention/ activity that your village will choose to undertake as part of the plan.

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Roles and Responsibilities

The plan will outline the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in the implementation and monitoring of interventions ensuring that there is fair distribution of responsibility towards the achievement of success in interventions across community members and a plan for continuation of participatory processes through the implementation of the plan.

Once the plan is ready, the VNRMC will submit it to the BPMU. BPMU will conduct a quality assessment of the Village CNRM Plan. BPMU can suggest/ make qualitative improvements in the plans in consultation with the VNRMC Executive Committee before sending it to DPMU.

4. CNRM PLAN APPROVALBy whom: DPMU supported by BPMUWhen: After plan has been submitted

Following the submission of the CNRM plan from a village through the BPMU, the respective DPMUs will approve it as per the sequence given below:

Block level a. BPMU will prepare a consolidated statement of all village CNRM plans received by it b. Consolidated block plans will be sent by BPMU to respective DPMU including village CNRM plans and recommendations therein.

District level c. DPMU will constitute a Committee to review, appraise and approve village CNRM plans. Please note that the village plans, if not found to be in order, can be returned by DPMU to VNRMC through the BPMU for required amendments. d. The DPMU will prepare the district plans which will be an aggregation of (i) all village CNRM plans (ii) Block sub-plans and (iii) District sub-plan.

Once the DPMU has approved your prepared village plan, it will sign a VGA and Addendum with your village.If required, each VNRMC can review and revise their CNRM plan whenever required and get the revised plan approved by the DPMU.

Finally, your village will nominate up to 7 members of their VNRMC Executive Committees and village NRM service providers for training on CNRM plan implementation.

5. CNRM PLAN IMPLEMENTATIONBy whom: VNRMC, supported by DPMUWhen: After CNRM plan has been approved

You will have to implement your CNRM plans in a staged manner. This will be outlined and agreed through a Village Grant Agreement between the VNRMC and DPMU. This process of activities will be mentioned as ‘first stage activities’. If the implementation meets agreed-upon criteria as mentioned in the Village Grant Agreement Addendum, they will move on to the next stage of financing. The first step will involve the DPMU releasing project funds directly to VNRMC on a six-monthly basis for project operations based on their annual plan, and a six-monthly progress report or completion report, whichever is earlier.Following this, the VNRMC Executive Committee will start the procurement process. During the course of plan implementation, the VNRMC will ensure that all activity – physical/technical, social and gender, financial and procurement, as well as documentation and reporting etc. is carried out in compliance with project requirements. A Grievance Redressal Mechanism will also be in place.During the plan implementation, social audits will be carried out bi-annually as part of monitoring. Procurement review will be done by the SPMU and they will establish internal prior review thresholds. Additionally, the SPMU will conduct independent procurement post review for district- and sub-district-level procurements in accordance with the World Bank guidelines.

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IntroductionDuring implementation of the project, there are instances where people could be impacted by the project in an

unwanted or undesired manner. To help resolve such grievances, CLLMP has created a mechanism by which you can

get your concerns addressed.

If you feel that you have been adversely affected by the project, you may submit your complaints by simply calling on

the following phone numbers. The processes of the GRM are indicated below.

OPTION 11. Phone numbers for registering complaints

• East Khasi Hills : 8575011210

• South West Khasi Hills : 8837378438

• West Khasi Hills : 8837378438

• East Jaintia Hills : 7005508543

• West Jaintia Hills : 7005508543

• Ri-Bhoi : 7628088052

• North Garo Hills : 8259909112

• East Garo Hills : 8259909112

• West Garo Hills : 9485399728

• South West Garo Hills : 9485399728

• South Garo Hills : 8575192585

2. Your complaints will be registered by the concerned official of the project and you will be given a token number.

Please keep the token number safe with you. You will require it for future reference when you call us.

3. Within 7 days from registration, you will be contacted by our district office who will provide you with a solution.

If you are still not satisfied with the solution, you may inform the official or you can call us again, and the issue will

be escalated to state level.

4. A solution from the state level will be communicated to you within 10 days from the day of escalation of the grievance.

5. If you are still not satisfied with the solution offered, you may inform the official or you can call us again, and the

issue will be escalated to the final appellate authority who will provide the final resolution within 20 working days.

Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM)

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OPTION 21. You can also register your complaints through the project website www.cllmp.com. To register your complain, simply

fill and submit the feedback form provided on the website.

2. Within 7 days from registration, you will be contacted by our district office who will provide you with a solution.

If you are still not satisfied with the solution, you may inform the official or you can call us again, and the issue will

be escalated to state level.

3. A solution from the state level will be communicated to you within 10 days from the day of escalation of the grievance.

4. If you are still not satisfied with the solution offered, you may inform the official or you can call us again, and the

issue will be escalated to the final appellate authority who will provide the final resolution within 20 working days.

OPTION 3Alternatively, you may also submit your complaints to the Worldbank as explained below:

1. You may submit your complaint to the World Bank’s independent Inspection Panel which determines whether harm

has occurred, or could occur, as a result of the non-compliance with its policies and procedures.

2. Complaints may be submitted at any time after concerns have been brought directly to the World Bank’s attention,

and Bank Management has been given an opportunity to respond.

3. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank’s corporate Grievance Redress Service (GRS),

please visit http://www.worldbank.org/GRS.

4. For information on how to submit complaints to the World Bank Inspection Panel, please visit www.inspectionpanel.org.

Complaint through telephone/Website

Registration of complaints by District Grievance Redress Officer (Asst. Managers - Social Management)

Complaint forwarded to DPM for action Complaint forwarded to SPMU for monitoring(Follow up every 7 days)

Response to complaint by DPM

Resolved

Resolved

Unresolved

Unresolved

Filing of closure report Resolution by SPMU

Referred to Final Appellate Authority for final resolution(Project Director)

Filing of closure report Filing of closure report

Escalation to SPMU

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Financial ManagementVNRMC y Open separate bank account for the Project and identify two persons from your community who will

be responsible for joint signatory of cheque. y Nominate one person from your community with knowledge and experience in book keeping. y Segregate roles and responsibilities on procurement, payment and accounting y Submit timely request to DPMU for release of funds/ tranches. y Pay for CNRM activities as per approved CNRM Plan y Maintain accounting, maintenance of books of accounts and bank reconciliation y Prepare timely utilisation certificates to DPMU. y Assist MBMA and DPMU in the verification and audit process.

The following books of accounts and registers shall be prepared and maintained at VNRMC.These books of accounts shall be preserved and maintained till the Project concludes.

9 Minute Book 9 Cash Book 9 Community contribution register 9 Cheque issue Register – to maintain record of Cheque issued and cleared from Bank 9 Bank Pass Book 9 Bill Register (to record date of receipt of bill, date of bill approval for payment and date of issue of

cheque/cash). 9 Vouchers, bills and supporting documents 9 Any other register required for the project

Expenditure / Financial ReportingVNRMC shall submit Utilisation certificates to DPMU within one month from end of each half year.

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Do’s Dont’s

9 The bank account opened for project shall only be used to deposit receipt and payment for project activities. (CLLMP activities)

x Do not use project bank account to deposit and make payments of other schemes. (non-CLLMP activities)

9 To the extent possible, make payments through cheque. The cheques must be signed by Joint Signatories only.

x To avoid misuse of cheque book, it shall not be in the custody of members who are authorized signatories to the cheque.

9 Withdraw cash from bank account only for activities agreed in Executive Body Meeting and recorded in Minute Book.

9 Cash withdrawn from bank account shall be kept in safe custody of at least three members of Executive Committee.

x Do not withdraw large amount of cash from Bank Account.

x Do not withdraw cash in advance. x Do not withdraw cash from bank account to

make payment for other schemes.

9 Roles and responsibilities between Executive Committee members must be clearly defined and segregated i.e. (i) members responsible for procurement shall not be involved in payment, (ii) members responsible for approval of bill shall not be involved in payment, (iii) members making the payment shall not be involved in maintenance of books, (iv) members responsible for maintenance of books shall not be custodian of cash.

9 Procurement, Approval, Payment and Accounting functions must be rotated among members every two years.

x Do not involve same members for all critical functions – Procurement, Approval, Payment and Accounting.

9 Monitor payment against each budget activity. 9 Converse and appraise matters to members in Executive

Committee meetings. 9 Inform DPMU in advance, if you foresee that payment

will exceed the budget in future.

x CNRM Plan shall not include activities that are presently financed or will be financed during project period from any other government scheme.

9 Identify a bookkeeper/accountant who has knowledge in accounting and book keeping.

9 Provide training to bookkeeper under the project.

x Do not nominate a member who is presently responsible for accounting of another scheme.

9 Bill must be approved by authorized member of the committee.

9 Books shall be updated immediately after payment is made.

9 Maintain books only as per suggested format. 9 Preserve vouchers, bills and supporting documents. 9 Bank reconciliation must be carried on monthly basis.

x Do not make payment, if bill is not approved. x Do not group bills, to update books later.

9 Submit Utilization Certificate as per suggested format and Bank statement to DPMU on six-monthly basis.

9 Submit physical progress reports of each activity with photographs, containing location information.

9 Place accounts before executive Committee and General Body meetings.

9 Preserve books for audit till closure of Project.

DO’S AND DON’TS FOR COMMUNITY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

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Procurement Management

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Principles of Community Procurement1. Openness (Transparency): All procurement procedures must be carried in an open transparent manner.

All details of procurement must be displayed at prominent places in the village from the beginning of the process.

2. Lawfulness: Procurement of goods/works/services should be lawful and cannot violate any law.3. Equity: Your community members and your organizations will have equal opportunities to participate

in the decision-making processes of the project including identification, procurement, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and other related processes. Note that there will be equal opportunity in the engagement of community organizations as contractors/service providers.

4. Participatory: The procurement process should be participatory and known and informed to all. Everybody should have the same access to know the process; the parties involved, the prices offered by them, the method to select the party and details of selected parties and product.

5. Accountability: The beneficiaries will give full and accurate accounts of procurements undertaken to implement and complete your approved CNRM Plans.

6. Integrity: The beneficiaries will conduct its procurements and maintain the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

7. Simplification and Social Benefit: The purchase of goods, works, consulting and non-consulting services should be done locally whenever possible to support development of your local suppliers/business, using only agreed methods and documents.

8. Fairness: Equal opportunity must be given to all suppliers interested in supplying items to the beneficiaries and uniform evaluation procedures must be adopted.

9. Value for Money: Items procured should meet the required technical specifications and the quality standards, (preferably ISI), and the best price including when compared with Government rates.

Important aspects of Community ProcurementWhile undertaking procurements, it is very important for you to consider the following carefully:

9 DEMAND ESTIMATION: WHAT will be procured and in WHAT QUANTITIES (procurements should be aligned with the approved CNRMP)

9 SUPPLY MARKET SURVEY: You will have to identify suppliers from the nearest and neighbouring markets, and identify only those who can meet the demand. You will also have to invite quotations (a minimum of 3 quotations are required)

9 ESTIMATED COST: Should be within with the funds made available for approved CNRMP 9 HOW will it be procured: Competitive or Direct Purchase including and thresholds of procurement 9 WHO will procure it: Name of Beneficiaries and their authorized representatives/Purchase Committee 9 WHEN will it be procured: Time at which the procurements are required as well as time taken for

procurement to complete the sub-project on a timely basis 9 WHERE the goods/material/works/services will be delivered: Location/delivery point/transportation, etc.

Rate BankFloating of Enquiry [FoE] process will be adopted by DPMU under the guidance of MBMA for creating database of rate bank comprising of standard specifications, price lists, and a database of suppliers for items to be purchased by the communities. The rate bank will be periodically updated [preferably in every 6 months] or if there is a sudden change in the market rate.

Procurement Process/StepsThe steps in procurement which are to be implemented in consonance with the Project Procurement Strategy for Development (PPSD) and Procurement plan are as below: y Need assessment [based on the approved CNRMP] through a participatory process; y Preparing a procurement plan; y Establishing a Purchase Committee comprising of your community members; y Posting a general advertisement in a public place [i] including shopping areas, community hall/centre,

government office, etc.; [ii] community discussion groups; [iii] local radio stations; (iv) local newspapers etc. y Selecting a procurement method [as per procurement plan] and following the steps as prescribed.

WHAT IS THE PURCHASE COMMITTEE?27

Purchase Committee means a sub-committee of the VNRMC. It shall comprise of the representatives of your community, which are elected by your community. The Purchase Committee shall assist the VNRMC in the planning, execution, administration and monitoring of the procurement functions all of which will be in line with the approved CNRM Plans.

The Purchase Committee shall be established through an elective process. The process shall require a minimum level of capability/capacity and assurance of character, to be specified by the VNRMC. An inclusion of at least one female member is necessary.

The members of the Purchase Committee should not be members of other sub-committees formed by the VNRMC and/or not related to the members of other Committees formed by the VNRMC. There shall be no relation to suppliers from whom purchases will be made, and the members should be willing to undertake this responsibility.

The quorum of the Purchase Committee will be a minimum of three members with at least two women. Where the beneficiary communities cover two or more villages, then representation from each village/community would be essential.

The procurement process will commence only after procurement training and related documents have been provided to the Purchase Committee and VNRMC. A record of such trainings with details such as number of trainings, number of people trained, etc., will be kept both at the DPMU and SPMU.The membership would be on a rotational basis and would be reconstituted through election by your community, and would be based on the above criteria.

Some of the functions of the Purchase Committee are:

y Sending Request for Quotations [RFQ] to potential suppliers in the market y Obtaining quotations within the specified period [normally 14 days] y Preparing comparison statements in the given format for submission to and approval of VNRMC y Recording procurement decisions with respect to award of contracts, and this will be done in the

presence of your community members in the Minutes Register y Issuing Supply Order to the lowest evaluated responsive supplier y Receiving and checking supplies received for quantity and quality defects y Recording goods received in the stock register y Maintaining records related to procurement such as Request for Quotations [RFQ] issued, quotations

received, comparison statements, record of decisions taken by the community on placing awards, invoices, payments made, etc.

y Submitting written justification for non-competitive procurement [e.g., spare parts, proprietary items, etc.] for approval of VNRMC

Important Procurement Records to be maintainedSome of the important procurement records which should be maintained are:

9 Approved CNRM Plan 9 Details of procurement training conducted [e.g., date, duration, venue, conducted by, names/number

of participants, new or refresher training, etc.] 9 Procurement Plan aligned with the approved CNRM Plan 9 Community/social estimates and technical estimates, as approved/sanctioned 9 Rate Bank prepared and provided by DPMU while planning any procurement 9 Composition, and formulation of Purchase Committee – dated and signed by VNRMC 9 Details of Request for Quotations sent out to suppliers [e.g., date of RFQ, number of RFQs sent out, etc.] 9 Quotations received 9 Comparison Statements – signed and dated by the Purchase Committee 9 Record of process and methods of procurement in the Minutes Register 9 Dates of Purchase with names and quantities of items procured

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9 Updated stock register 9 Goods Received Note 9 Challans/invoices/cash memo from suppliers 9 Details of payments made [copies of vouchers and cheques, etc.] against details of all goods/items/

services received

In case of civil works, records to be maintained will include design, bills of quantities and estimates, Engineers’ site visit book which is dated and signed, the measurement book, and the certification of the Engineers on quality of construction, etc. For Non-competitive procurements, a record of justification and agreement for buying the items and file should keep invoices and vouchers of payments.

Financial Limits and Methods

Financial limits and methods have to be maintained. According to the guidelines, the maximum limit for Goods and Non-Consulting Services has been decided that it will be upto Rs. 1,00,000 [Rupees One Lakh] only; andThreshold for Works: applicable for each procurement of works is upto Rs. 10, 00,000 [Rupees Ten Lakhs] only.

Request for Quotation (RFQ) is a procurement method based on comparing price quotations obtained from several suppliers. A minimum of 3 quotations is required to ensure competitive prices. The request for RFQ shall be made with detailed description, specification, quantity and quality of the goods, terms of delivery or specifications of work, and must definitively include delivery or completion of time and place. If the quotations are called for more than one items/works, it should be indicated whether the evaluation would be for each item-wise.Quotations/rates can be obtained through market survey and/or by issuing Requests for Quotations to the Suppliers listed in the Rate Bank.

Steps Involved in RFQ1. Inviting RFQ: The VNRMC shall authorise the Purchase Committee to conduct a market survey and issue Request for Quotations [RFQ] for obtaining sealed quotations/rates as per the technical sanction. A member of Purchase Committee shall sign the RFQ. The RFQ will include description of the requirements, the last date and time for submission, and the validity period of quotations. Quotations can be submitted either by post or in person, on any day, till the last date and time mentioned in the RFQ.

2. Receipt of Quotations: The Purchase Committee shall ensure that the quotations/rates are obtained in sealed envelopes within 14 days from the date of issue of RFQ.

3. Opening and Evaluation of Quotations:

- The sealed quotations received shall be opened by the Purchase Committee and shall be initialled by all the members of the Purchase Committee. - The Purchase Committee shall then prepare the evaluation report which will contain a Comparison Statement which is based on market survey and the quotations received.- A recommendation for award of contract to the lowest evaluated responsive supplier must also be specified. - Factors such as availability and transportation costs may be taken into account when comparing quotations. In case the lowest supplier has not been recommended, reasons thereof should be recorded.- The Purchase Committee shall place its recommendations and decision before your institutional village functionaries, and procurement decision recorded in the Minutes Register. - The Purchase Committee, on behalf of your community, will then issue the Supply/Purchase Order.

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4. Receipt, Inspection and Acceptance of Goods: The Purchase Committee shall receive the goods/ material and check for quantity mismatches, quality defects/damaged goods and price inaccuracy if any, and make entries in the stock register once accepted.

5. Storage: To avoid the risk of damage, wastage and theft, in case the materials procured are not kept on site, a safe storage place must be identified by the VNRMC. The VNRMC may decide who will make entries in the stock register and have possession of the keys to the storage room. This decision should be recorded in the Minutes Register.

6. Sustainability: Service and guarantee period must be entered into for goods purchased.

Direct ContractingThis method is usually used where only one supplier/contractor/service provider is available locally, or, when the cost of using a competitive process such as an RFQ is likely to be much higher compared to the value of goods procured directly from the available source. It is recommended that this method should not be applied extensively. Examples of direct contracting include procurement of proprietary goods, spare parts, stones, works that are small and scattered, or in remote locations where mobilization cost for contractors would be unreasonably high, etc. Justification for Direct Contracting should be available in community procurement records. To ensure that the single source is not charging excessive prices, unit rate should be verified as reasonable and comparable with government rates, wherever available. The Project retains the right to terminate the contract issued and recover the sums from the communities, if the justification is found invalid.

LabourThe need and cost for skilled labour will be estimated before the implementation of the approved CNRMPlan in your village and will be included in the cost of the approved CNRMP. Your community will be given the option of deciding whether to hire skilled labour, or unskilled labour, or whether to contribute in kind. In case of hiring of labour, the standard pay rates for labour and scales should not exceed the prescribed government norms.

Consultancy ServicesThe DPMUs and BPMUs will assist your VNRMCs in the initial stage for selection of consultants and other services, if required and approved in CNRM Plans. At VNRMC level, Consultant Qualification Selection (CQS), Least Cost Selection (LCS), Fixed Budget Selection (FBS) Single Source Selection (SSS) are appropriate methods.

- Institutional Consultant1. CQS: On the basis of local advertisement/notice, select best firm on qualification basis. Ask for technical and financial proposal from the only selected firm. Negotiate and award, if technical proposal accepted.2. LCS: On the basis of local advertisement/notice, minimum marks for technical qualification. Use two envelope system (Technical & Financial).Open technical & disqualify less than minimum marks firm. Open financial proposal, award to lowest quote among the technically short-listed firm.3. SSS: If any service provider is hired through single source, the same should be justified and approved by Purchase Committee of the DPMU within the threshold limit.

Internal ControlsWhile in the process of procurement, the following internal controls are recommended including:

9 Initiation of procurements will commence only after procurement trainings and related documentation has been provided to the VNRMC and Purchase Committee;

9 Each VNRMC will have a unique procurement plan for its approved CNRM Plan which is endorsed by the VNRMC;

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9 Terms of Purchase Committee will be limited to a year; fresh members of the Purchase Committee will be elected through a democratic voting process;

9 Any decision taken on procurement shall be taken in the presence of your community members, and the decision must be recorded in the VNRMC Minutes Register;

9 Member of the Purchase Committee will not be members of any other Committee constituted by the VNRMC;

9 The members of the Purchase Committee should not be related to the members of other Committees formed by the VNRMC or suppliers from who purchases will be made;

9 In case friends or relatives of the any member of the Purchase Committee area supplier from who the RFQ has been invited, the concerned member[s] cannot participate in the evaluation process and while preparing the comparison statement;

9 The Social Audit Committee shall conduct physical verification of materials procured and reconcile this with store records such as Stock Register, etc.

9 Community procurement will be subject to procurement post review by third party consultants appointed by the SPMU under TOR, and reporting requirements satisfactory to the Bank.

AuditThe Financial Manual for VNRMC proposes for External Audit by a firm that is appointed by CAG, and for an Internal Audit by firms of Chartered Accountants appointed by the Project. Internal Audit would include the verification of documents relating to procurement of materials and proper implementation of the Community Procurement, and the procurement function of VNRMCs.It would be the responsibility of the VNRMC to facilitate the Audit and ensure that the books and records relating to procurement are produced before the Auditors. It would also be their duty to effect timely compliance to the audit findings.

Transparency 9 Information with respect to intended procurement through quotations should be displayed by the

VNRMC on the notice boards, Community Halls and other public places which are easily accessible to all members of VNRMC;

9 Any member of your community implementing the approved CNRMP can request for examination of the documents regarding procurement. In such a case, the VNRMC shall facilitate the inspection of the procurement documents;

9 At each meeting of the VNRMC, the proceedings book of the meetings and copies of project related documents, including procurement records, shall be kept at the venue for inspection by your Community;

9 Any procurement related complaint shall be submitted to MBMA through a toll-free number and/or through a web based complaint for redressal;

9 Sign boards displaying relevant information [e.g., name of the CNRM Plan being implemented, name of beneficiaries, financial information, major activities planned, duration of the Plan, etc.] about the CNRMP should be installed at the site of implementation of the CNRMP

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Notes

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