REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

RFQ Nº UNFPA/IND/RFQ/25/008

Dear Sir/Madam,

UNFPA hereby solicits a quotation for the following service:

“Primary Data Collection for the Evaluation of Government of India’s Free

Supply and Social Marketing of Contraceptive Schemes”

UNFPA requires the services of a qualified agency to undertake Primary Data Collection for the Evaluation of Government of India’s Free Supply and Social Marketing of Contraceptive Schemes. The agency is expected toprovide services as detailed in the Terms of Reference (ToR).  I. About UNFPA UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is an international development agency that works to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.   UNFPA is the lead UN agency that expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy sexual and reproductive lives. To read more about UNFPA, please go to: UNFPA about us II. Terms of Reference (ToR) UNFPA is seeking services from a qualified agency to undertake data collection for the two evaluation studies.  a) Background information Easy and affordable access to a wide range of contraceptives is crucial to reduce unmet need, to reduce the burden of unintended pregnancies, and to help women achieve their reproductive rights. The family planning programme of the Government of India puts emphasis on assuring quality of services and expanding the contraceptive choices. The Department of Health and Family Welfare is responsible for implementation of the National Family Welfare Programme by encouraging the utilization of contraceptives and distribution of the same to the States/UTs under Free Supply of Contraceptives scheme and through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) under Social Marketing of Contraceptives scheme. The primary objective of the Free Supply of Contraceptive scheme is to promote healthy timing and spacing between pregnancies and to improve reproductive health by providing free access to various contraceptive methods to all eligible couples, especially targeting economically weaker sections and rural populations. Under this programme, contraceptives are procured by the central Government and supplied to State/UTs as per their demand and distributed to the clients through the chain of public health facilities viz. District Hospital, Sub-divisional Hospital, Community Health Center, Public Health Centers, Urban Health Centers, Sub Centers and ASHA. Further, the contraceptive basket of choices was expanded to improve access and uptake of contraceptives by introducing subdermal single rod Implant and Antara Subcutaneous injections as reversible spacing options in 2022-23 as a pilot in 16 States. In 1968, India became the first country to initiate a social marketing of contraceptive schemes to promote the use of contraceptives through commercial marketing techniques but at subsidized prices, making family planning products affordable and accessible. The programme was launched with ‘Nirodh’ brand of unlubricated condoms and Oral Pills (OCPs) in the name of ‘Mala D’ was added in 1987. Under the scheme, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare procures condoms and OCPs from the indigenous condom manufacturers and supplies to the voluntary organizations called Social Marketing Organization (SMOs) appointed by the Government of India. In addition, the SMOs are also permitted to sell both the contraceptives under their own brand names. The SMOs are provided condoms and OCPs at subsidized rates for sale in the open market. SMOs undertake marketing of condoms through their distributors, wholesalers and retailers at maximum retail prices approved by the Ministry. On the request of the MOHFW, the assessment of the social marketing of contraceptive schemes was conducted by UNFPA initially in 2015 and second time in 2019. UNFPA was also requested to undertake the assessment of the free supply of contraceptives schemes in 2019. The report of both the studies were approved by MOHFW in 2020 and submitted to NITI Aayog. Building on previous assessment studies and in line with the directions of NITI Aayog, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has once again entrusted UNFPA with the task of evaluating the current status of these two schemes under the National Family Planning programme in 2025. b) Objectives The aim of the evaluation studies is to assess the free supply and social marketing of contraceptives from quantification to the last-mile delivery, identifying challenges and gaps in the process and to suggest the measures to enhance the accessibility, utilization and effectiveness of the schemes. To meet the objectives, secondary data analysis from large scale surveys will be undertaken by UNFPA and this task requires the agency to collect data as per the tools provided by UNFPA from the selected geographies. Hence, high level technical expertise in terms of deployment of project personnel by the agency is not required. c) Scope of work and level of efforts in this assignment The scope of work of the request for proposal is limited to gathering primary data from the selected states / districts / blocks under the overall guidance of a Senior level Consultant hired directly by the UNFPA. The following sections detail out the methodology, highlighting the task to be carried out by the research agency and describe the number of qualitative interviews to be collected from various stakeholders under these two assessment studies. 

        1. Evaluation of Free Supply of Contraceptives Scheme

This evaluation study envisaged to analyze both secondary and primary data. While the secondary data analysis will be carried out by UNFPA, the agency’s main task will be to conduct qualitative interviews as primary data from the selected states. The selection of study areas and stakeholders to be interviewed are data outlined below: Sample It is proposed to select four states for this study. Within each of the selected states, one district and one block within each selected district will be based on the following criteria:

• Data on Couple Years of Protection (CYP) per 100,000 population were computed from the distribution of reversible method contraceptives during the year 2024; Source: HMIS
• Data on use of reversible methods; Source: NFHS-5 (2019-21), and
• Data on percentage of oral contraceptive pills and condom users mentioning public sector as the most recent source of availing contraceptives; Source: NFHS-5 (2019-21)

The selection of the study areas, based on the analysis of the above criteria will be undertaken by UNFPA in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and a final list of selected states, districts and blocks will be provided to the agency. While the selection of states will be primarily on the basis of above-mentioned indicators, it is expected that the states will be fairly widespread and may come each form northern, southern, western and eastern states of India.   Instructions for submission Proposals should be prepared based on the guidelines set forth in Section III above, along with a properly filled out and signed price quotation form, and are to be sent by email to the contact person indicated below no later than : 19/08/2025, 23:59 

   Please note the following guidelines for electronic submissions: 

• 1. The following reference must be included by the Bidder in the email subject line:

1. UNFPA/IND/RFQ/25/008 – [Company name], Technical Bid
2. UNFPA/IND/RFQ/25/008 - [Company name], Financial Bid
3. Submissions without this text in the email subject line may be rejected or overlooked and therefore not considered.
4. Both the technical and financial bids must be submitted separate emails and not in one email.

• It is the Bidder’s responsibility to assure compliance with the submission process. If the envelopes or emails are not marked / submitted per the instructions, UNFPA will neither assume responsibility for the bid’s misplacement or premature opening nor guarantee the confidentiality of the Bid process. Incorrect submissions might result in your Bid being declared invalid.
• The total email size may not exceed 20 MB (including email body, encoded attachments and headers). Where the technical details are in large electronic files, it is recommended that these be sent separately before the deadline.
• Any quotation submitted will be regarded as an offer by the bidder and does not constitute or imply the acceptance of any quotation by UNFPA. UNFPA is under no obligation to award a contract to any bidder as a result of this RFQ.
• Please do NOT send the emails containing your offer to any other email address (not even as a copy (CC) or blind copy (BCC)); otherwise UNFPA will not be able to guarantee confidentiality and fair and transparent handling of your bid. UNFPA reserves the right to reject bids sent via the appropriate channel but copied or blind copied to other email addresses.
• The total email size may not exceed 20 MB (including email body, encoded attachments and headers). Where the technical details are in large electronic files, it is recommended that these be sent separately before the deadline.
• It is the Bidder’s responsibility to ensure that Bids sent by email are received by the submission deadline. Should your offer require you to submit more than one email, in the body of this first email, bidders are requested to list the number of messages that make up their technical offer and the number of messages that make up their financial offer.
• Any quotation submitted will be regarded as an offer by the bidder and does not constitute or imply the acceptance of any quotation by UNFPA. UNFPA is under no obligation to award a contract to any bidder as a result of this RFQ. 

Overview of Evaluation ProcessThe evaluation will be carried out in a two-step process by an ad-hoc evaluation panel. Technical proposals will be evaluated and scored first, prior to the evaluation and scoring of price quotations Technical EvaluationTechnical proposals will be evaluated based on their responsiveness to the service requirements /TORs listed in Section II and in accordance with the evaluation criteria below.   For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFQ attached below.

Job Email ID:

bids.india(at)unfpa.org

Download Attachment:

RFQ - 008-2025 Schemes of GOI.pdf

Download Attachment:

UNFPA General Conditions - De Minimis Contracts.pdf