Methods for Monitoring and

Evaluation
(September 11 – 14, 2018)

Pakistan Planning and Management Institute (PPMI)

Ministry of Planning, Development & Reforms

By

Asad Ali Saleem

Senior Engineer
Construction Management Division

National Engineering Services Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd.

October 2018
Table of Contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 3

2. Pakistan Planning and Management Institute ...................................................... 3

3. Training Course: Methods of Monitoring & Evaluation ......................................... 4

4. Schedule of Activities ........................................................................................... 4

5. Brief Overview of Training Course: ...................................................................... 5

A. Overview of Project Management Cycle ....................................................... 5

B. Overview of Monitoring & Evaluation ............................................................ 5

C. Types & Methods for Project Monitoring & Evaluation .................................. 5

D. Project Monitoring & Evaluation System (PMES) .......................................... 6

E. Monitoring & Control of Projects.................................................................... 7

6. Certificate Award Ceremony: ............................................................................... 8

1. Introduction

The Planning Commission (denoted as PC) is a financial and public policy development institution
of the Government of Pakistan. The Commission comes under Ministry of Planning, Development
and Reforms. The Planning Commission undertakes research studies and state policy
development initiatives for the growth of national economy and the expansion of the public and
state infrastructure of the country in tandem with the Ministry of Finance (MoF). Since 1952, the
commission have had a major influence and role in formulating the highly centralized and planned
five-year plans for the national economy, for most of the 20th century in Pakistan. Although the
five-year plans were replaced by Medium Term Development Framework, the commission still
played an influential and central role in the development of the programme. Furthermore, the
Public Sector Development Programmes (PSDP) is also placed under the domain of the planning
commission.
The commission is headed by the Prime Minister who serves as the commission’s Chairman,
assisted by the deputy chairman. Additionally, an Advisory Committee comprising of advisors
from different sectors also assists the commission in its working. The hierarchy further descends
to a group of members namely Member Coordination who is Secretary PDR, Member Economic
Policy / Planning, Member Infrastructure & Regional Connectivity, Member Implementation &
Monitoring, Member Science & Technology, Member Social Sector & Devolution, Member
Governance, Innovation & Reforms, Member Food Security & Climate Change and Member
Research. Each Member is assisted by Director Generals who have Directors working under their
subordination.
The mission of PC is to manage Pakistan’s socio-economic development in a strategic and
sustainable manner. To achieve this mission, PC has devised a three pronged strategy which
includes provision of leadership in carrying out economic and development programs,
coordination of efforts with public agencies, private partners and other stakeholders and lastly but
most importantly enabling and capacity enhancement of public entities in the field of planning and
implementation.

2. Pakistan Planning and Management Institute

Planning Commission objectively strives to develop planning and implementation capacities of

public entities. In their role to facilitate the public agencies to enhance their capabilities vis –a –
vis planning and implementation, the commission has dedicated its efforts in developing a state
of the art Research Institute which conducts both local and foreign trainings for such officials.
Pakistan Planning and Management Institute (PPMI) located in Islamabad periodically conducts
training sessions for officials from government offices and its affiliated agencies.
PPMI conducts these trainings systematically. A pre-schedule of trainings which are to be
conducted in the following annual duration are circulated among the various government offices
/ ministries and their affiliated agencies. The annual training sessions pre-schedule is fractioned
on quarterly basis starting from the month of July every year. The training sessions encompasses
a vast range of topics related to socio-economics & infrastructure development programs, public

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policy formulation, methodology for program and project planning, implementation and monitoring
of programs, projects and plans as well as their Impact assessments, evaluations and outcomes.

3. Training Course: Methods of Monitoring & Evaluation

PPMI held its final training session for the first quarter of 2018 year on the topic of “Methods of
Monitoring & Evaluation” on September 11, 2018. The course continued for a duration of four
days and was attended by an audience of officials belonging from both the government sector
and its subsidiary agencies. All of the participants attending the training course ranged from a
variety of public sector spectrum i.e. education, infrastructure, defense and social sector, however
they shared a common aspect of working in a project environment in their respective field of work.
As the topic of the course elucidates, the aim of the training was to impart insight on the
methodology involved in monitoring and evaluation of projects. Since the PC primarily oversees
a variety of Public Sector Development Projects (PSDP) related to production, infrastructure and
social sector which are being undertaken by various government departments and ministries. The
training course was tailored accordingly to cater for the understanding of project monitoring and
evaluation in light of the PSDP which follow the protocols of project planning, monitoring and
evaluation developed by the PC. These protocols or procedural documents developed by the PC
are famously known as PC – Forms.

4. Schedule of Activities

The training course during its duration from September 11, 2018 to September 14, 2018 was
arranged according to the following schedule:

Training
Training Activities Resource Person
Days
Day 1 Introduction & Welcome Note Dr. Muhammad Ali Noor, Director
Overview of Project Management Cycle General, PPMI
Overview of Monitoring & Evaluation Dr. Umme-Laila, Assistant Professor,
National University of Sciences &
Technology (NUST), Islamabad
Day 2 Types & Methods for Project Monitoring

Preparation of PC-III Document for Ch. Muhammad Shahid, Ex-Joint Chief

Project Monitoring Economist, Ministry of Planning
Development & Reforms
Day 3 Types & Methods for Project Evaluation

Day 4 Project Monitoring & Evaluation System Mr. Qamar Zaman, Data Processing
(PMES) Officer, M / o PD&R

Project Monitoring & Control Mr. Hassan Dawood Butt, Project

Director, CPEC

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5. Brief Overview of Training Course:

A. Overview of Project Management Cycle

The lecture was presented by Dr. Muhammad Ali Noor, PhD. Project Management, Director
General, Pakistan Planning and Management Institute / Member Infrastructure (Projects Wing).
An all-encompassing presentation on the nature of Projects their management and life cycles
were briefed to the participants. The presentation started by deliberating on the early history and
background of project management. How its importance was quickly gauged by the now
developed countries, and how project management as a profession is being evolved in the
developing countries. The role of Global organizations who are committed to advance project
management as a profession such as The Project Management Institute (PMI), USA and their
essential reference manual Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) were frequently
discussed topics in the training session.
The lecture was insightful in its theoretical approach of the subject, however its current application
in Public Sector Development Projects by the Planning Commission as explained by the presenter
was of particular interest to the participants.

B. Overview of Monitoring & Evaluation

The lecture was presented by Ms. Dr. Umme-Laila, PhD. Public Policy and Management,
Assistant Professor, Department of Government & Public Policy, National University of Sciences
& Technology (NUST), Islamabad. The lecture was themed to explain the concepts of monitoring
and evaluation and how the two are distinct in nature from each other. Why the monitoring and
evaluation is required and its relation with public policy. The framework of policy making especially
in public discourse and how it is aimed to achieve through a variety of programs and projects
were deeply deliberated. Eventually these concepts were then surmised by presenting practical
examples from the fields of public policy making, program evaluation and project monitoring in
public sector.
A detailed discussion on problem identification, need assessments and baseline surveys were
held in order to further enhance the participants’ understanding of policy analysis. Furthermore,
these concepts of Policy Analysis were elaborated by dwelling into the step by step examples of
Pakistan’s past Government’s Policy Visions, Midterm Plans, Systematic Models and Impact
Evaluations.

C. Types & Methods for Project Monitoring & Evaluation

Mr. Ch. Muhammad Shahid, Ex- Joint Chief Economist, Ministry of Planning Development and
Reform presented this lecture. Having an illustrious career spanning on 35 years in the Planning
Commission on numerous projects of national Importance, the two consecutive lectures
presented by him were filled with his personal experiences and practical knowledge which were
shared with the participants. The lecture was divided into three parts. The first part of the lecture
dwelled on the theoretical concepts of five project management processes i.e. Initiation process,
Planning process, Execution process, Monitoring & Controlling process and Closing process.

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The central part of the lecture was detailed to explain the project management’s process group
of Monitoring and Controlling which is a necessary exercise performed during the execution of
the project. In doing so, monitoring during the currency of the project execution provides the
valuable information which enables the management to assess the progress of the project. This
resultantly enables the management of the project to make timely interventions imperative for the
project success. Methodology of monitoring of Public Sector Development projects undertaken
by PC and how it has constantly improved over the time with the use of modern methods
especially standardization of monitoring tools and embracing advance technology for tight
coordination among different stakeholders. Also, the two types i.e. External and Internal
monitoring were of significant interest as the two were explained to be fundamentally important
means for ensuring that the project achieves its intended objectives and goals.
Part two of the lecture stressed on the need of carrying our project evaluation which is a post
assessment operation to learn of the overall effects and impacts either intentional or unintentional
in light of the previously laid down project objectives. These effects and impacts after identification
are then analyzed as accurately as possible. The results of the such an evaluation then becomes
part of the policy making framework and guideline during the time of appraisal of next such
projects. Thus, improving the overall efficiency of the system in which future projects shall be
apprised, executed, monitored and controlled.
The last part of the lecture comprised of hands on exercises conducted by the presenter on the
procedural methodology of developing Cash Flow Plans and Work Plans for the PSDP funded
projects. The step by step methodology includes identification of activities and charting them on
Activity Chart, assigning time to each activity, preparation of work plan and then estimating cash
requirements based on work plan. Finally, Planning Commission proforma PC-III was deliberated
in detail to make the participants privy of the monitoring activities being conducted by the Project
Directors of various projects under the Public Sector Development Program.

D. Project Monitoring & Evaluation System (PMES)

The lecture was presented by Mr. Qamar Zaman, Data Processing Officer (PD&R) on the
dynamics and workings of a newly developed state of the art Management Information System.
A technology developed by the Planning Commission, namely Project Monitoring & Evaluation
System (PMES) Software to monitor the activities of Federal Government funded projects through
Public Sector Development Program.
PMES can be accessed by logging into www.pmes.psdp.net developed by MIS section of Projects
Wing. Access to portal has been given to a project stakeholder which generally comprise of
Project Directors who give input to the system i.e. monthly progress. Secondly, to a focal person
from the concerned Ministry who usually updates the cash flows and lastly to the Monitoring
Officer from the Project Wing of the Planning Commission responsible for the monitoring of the
overall project. Currently almost 12,500 on-going projects have been registered on PMES and
are being monitored by the Planning Commission.
The PMES software typically contains the following information regarding the Federally funded
PSDP projects:

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 • Ministry wise Project Profiles of all the on going projects are uploaded on the system.
• Annual Allocation for the projects authorized by the ministries.
• The work plans and cash flow plans.
• Monthly progress in terms of actual physical and financial progress is updated. This
feature has been linked with the release of funds as planned in the PC-I phasing of cash
flow.
• Remarks / Observations / Recommendation by Monitoring officers either external or
internal.
• Generates Reports for making prompt decisions and interventions by various stakeholders
at various work authorization levels.
• Project Director’s Report, Time Over run Reports and Problem Faced Reports are a few
types of professional reports which can be generated by PMES.

Project
Wing,
Planning
Commission

PMES
Project Concerned
Director Ministry

Figure 1: Project Monitoring & Evaluation System - Key Stakeholders

The aim is to standardize the management of all the ongoing projects under the PSDP in order to
enhance the Decision Support System of the Government using information and technology.

E. Monitoring & Control of Projects

Mr. Hassan Dawood Butt, Project Director CPEC, Ministry of Planning Development and Reform
delivered a lecture on Monitoring and Controlling of projects. The resource person gave an
informative and insightful overview of the on going and completed projects under the purview of
the ambitious “China Pakistan Economic Corridor”. CPEC is one of the most significant feature of
“Belt and Road Initiative” undertaken by the People’s Republic of China and serves as an

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extremely important diplomatic endeavor between the two partner countries. The presenter
shared his practical experience and knowledge regarding the CPEC projects and summarized on
the need to manage the expectation of the stakeholders involved in any project and emphasized
on the need to clearly define the objectives and aims of the project. This in return would prove
pivotal in monitoring of the project on later on stages during the monitoring and control phase of
the project lifecycle.
The lecture was concluded after a round of questions and answers session. The participants were
keen to ask Project Director CPEC questions on various features of the on going CPEC projects.
The presenter encouraged a healthy debate among the participants and clarified their queries.
On one question asked by the author of this report regarding the transparency of the projects
agreed between Pakistan and China under CPEC and ensuing misinformation among the
mainstream media, the project director dispelled any such claims and ensured the audience that
the agreements made were in the best interest of the country. He further explained that China
had come to Pakistan’s financial aid by deciding to invest in our economy when no foreign
investment was available to the country. China’s vision for regional connectivity and Pakistan’s
infrastructure needs to accelerate its economic development are mutually beneficial and both
partners are committed in perusing these objectives.

6. Certificate Award Ceremony:

The training session came to its final conclusion after the evaluation of the overall training course
by the participants which was followed by a certificate award ceremony. The participants of the
training course were distributed certificates by Mr. Hassan Dawood Butt, Project Director CPEC,
Ministry of Planning Development and Reform. Lastly, a group photo of the participants was taken
with the Director PPMI and the esteemed presenters.