Background
The 5th Joint Steering Committee of NIPI made the following resolutions in August 2008
• Allocation of upto 15 million NOK in 2008/2009 for OR
• Establish Operations Research(OR) Committee under chairmanship of Additional Secretary/MissionDirector(AS&MD) National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) with Govt of India and Govt Norway. The Government of India nominated the Joint Ssecretary (Reproductive and Child Health) & Asssitant Commissioner- Child Health and the Government of Norway nominated Royal Norwegian Embassy Counsellor NIPI & Senior Advisor Health to this committee.
• The Royal Norwegian Embassy New Delhi would undertake the secretariat function for the Operations Research Committee and OR within NIPI.
Operations Research Seminar
Following this it was decided by the OR committee to invite Norwegian and Indian Institutions for a workshop through an expression of interest in December 2008 to Delhi to discuss and arrive at recommendations regarding areas of priority for research as well as start the process of institutional collaboration.
• Under the auspices of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi organized a two-day Operation Research Seminar on 9th and 10th Feb. 2009 with National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW).
• 21 participants from Norway and 42 participants from India affiliated to leading research institutions in both countries participated.
• The main objectives of the workshop in identifying areas of priority for research within the NIPI context as well as providing Indian and Norwegian Institutions with the opportunity to establish institutional cooperation were met.
Operations Research Proposals and Process so far
After the OR seminar in Feb 2009 the following actions were taken
• CALL FOR PROPOSALS (including the format/criteria) for proposals announced 20 February RNE WEBSITE: www.norway.org.no
• Deadline for proposal submission was the 15 April 2009
• 10 proposals received from reputed Norwegian and Indian Institutions
• Government of Norway nominated 2 International Experts to review proposals based on a scoring system and ensuring impartiality through a declaration. These reviews were received the 19th May 2009.
• Government of India (AS&MD) nominated National Health Resource Center to review proposals and this was recieved 2 June 2009.
• OR Committee had a preparatory meeting on 21st May to discuss the weighting of proposals received.
• OR Committee meeting under chairmanship of AS&MD held on 2 June to finalise the first phase of the grant allocation for presentation to JSC on 4th June 2009.
6th Joint Steering Committee NIPI Resolutions 4th June 2009
The 6th Joint Steering Committee of NIPI made the following resolutions on 4th June 2009 regarding operations research.
The JSC notes the decisions of the Operations Research Committee. As per the decisions of this committee the JSC approves the commissioning of Operations Research in addition to approved grants not exceeding 15 million NOK in the year 2009. The JSC delegates the co-chair to oversee and approve the commissioned research. The JSC requests UNICEF, WHO and UNOPS to seek budgetary support from the earmarked funds for Operations Research under NIPI prior to commissioning or supporting any research activities/studies.
The Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi will be in contact with all applicants to inform them of the status of the grants by mid June 2009. The RNE with support from NORAD will commence the process of entering into agreements with Indian/Norwegian Institutions for approved/commissioned grants in July 2009.