Written by BK Sahni · Reviewed by the Editorial Team · Last updated: 17 October 2026

The course in one view

What is the IGNOU MADVS project (MDVP-117)?

Searches for the IGNOU MA Development Studies project, the MADVS dissertation or MDVP 117 all lead to this one course. Most of what a learner needs is in that single handbook. The MADVS project guidelines in it were written for postal submission, though, and a few of its instructions now sit alongside newer portal rules, so this page reads the handbook against the current notices and says which one applies where they differ.

The second-year decision

Should the IGNOU MADVS project be chosen over two more electives?

The IGNOU MADVS project is optional, and the choice is made at re-registration for the second year, before any proposal is written. IGNOU’s Regional Centre programme listings and the January 2020 Common Prospectus set the second year as “choose any 36 credits” and list MDVP-117 at 12 credits; the Regional Centre listing adds that project work is equivalent to two courses. A learner who takes the project therefore studies four 6-credit electives alongside it; a learner who skips it studies six.

Five 6-credit courses cannot fill 36 credits on their own, so the pool offered at re-registration includes further electives. That list, not this table, is the one that counts.

12 credits or 6: settling the MADVS project credits

The MADVS project credits appear two ways in IGNOU’s own material. The MDVP-117 handbook opens by calling the course “12 credits elected by you”, and Regional Centre programme pages list it at 12, equal to two courses, inside a 72-credit programme. The MADVS syllabus page on ignou.ac.in currently shows the project tile as 6 credits and labels its type “Theory”, the same label it gives every course on the page, which suggests a template field rather than a change of rule. Until IGNOU says otherwise, 12 is the documented value. One thing does not depend on the answer: the evaluation fee is the same Rs. 500 for any project above 4 credits.

The table below is a planning aid, not an IGNOU rule. It sets out the situations in which the extra work of a field study tends to pay off and the ones in which two taught courses are the safer route.

Dates

When should an MDVP-117 proposal be sent, and is there an MADVS project last date?

For the IGNOU MADVS project, the handbook gives advisory proposal dates linked to the admission cycle: learners admitted in a January session are advised to send the proposal by 30 April, and those admitted in a July session by 31 October. The handbook also says proposals are accepted throughout the year, with a matching delay in completing the programme. SOEDS then sends a written approval or non-approval within four weeks of receiving the proposal. In practice, that means the proposal date decides which examination cycle the report can realistically reach.

There is no fixed MADVS project last date that holds every year; each portal notice sets its own, so the safe habit is to read the notice for the cycle being targeted. The arithmetic matters more than the date itself. A learner admitted in July 2025 and now in the second year meets the handbook’s 31 October date in a fortnight; with four weeks for approval, a reply would arrive close to the end of November, which leaves no time for fieldwork before a December cycle and points the report towards the June 2027 cycle instead.

Guidance

Who can be an MADVS project supervisor?

The IGNOU MADVS project needs a supervisor whom SOEDS accepts, and the handbook names three groups of eligible people. If the School does not accept the proposed supervisor, the learner is told, changes the supervisor and sends the proposal again with the new supervisor’s signature, and it is treated as a new proposal. The same applies to a learner who changes supervisor later for any reason.

Whoever supervises has to supply a signed bio-data of about two pages with full contact details, academic background and work experience. The proforma warns that a proposal without the complete signed bio-data will not be entertained, even when the supervisor is already an IGNOU MADVS counsellor. The University pays the supervisor a token honorarium, stated in the handbook as Rs. 300 per student and open to revision, against the Annexure IV remuneration bill. The supervisor can also issue the authorisation letter that lets a learner collect data; the Study Centre or Regional Centre may issue it instead.

Proposal stage

What goes into the IGNOU MADVS synopsis and proposal pack?

The IGNOU MADVS project proposal, which learners usually call the synopsis, is a short typed document of 4 to 5 pages. The handbook uses “project proposal” throughout and “synopsis” once, when it asks learners to keep a copy, so both words mean the same document here. The MADVS project proposal must carry these parts, in this order:

1. Title, naming the place, the scheme or group studied and, where relevant, the period.
2. Introduction.
3. Objectives.
4. Problem statement.
5. Research methodology: locale, sampling, data collection instruments and the statistical tools to be used.
6. Limitations, if any.
7. References.

Three items travel together: the Annexure II proforma for approval, filled in and signed by both learner and supervisor; one copy of the typed proposal; and the supervisor’s signed bio-data. The handbook addresses the pack to the Project Coordinator (MADVS), School of Extension and Development Studies, Block 15-F, IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068, with “Project Proposal-MDVP-117” written at the top right corner of the envelope. Current portal guidelines confirm that a proposal goes to the concerned School or through the Regional Centre, and is never uploaded on the report portal; whether SOEDS now also accepts it by email is worth asking the programme coordinators before posting. How to frame objectives that an approver can test is covered in this guide to writing project objectives.

If an MADVS project proposal is rejected

A proposal that is not approved comes back with comments and suggestions. The revised version goes in with a fresh proforma, together with a copy of the proposal that was not approved, the old proforma carrying the evaluator’s comments, and the Project Proposal (P.P.) Number the School allotted. Leaving out the old papers is a common reason for a second delay, because the reviewer cannot see what was asked for.

Choosing what to study

MADVS project topics: which ones work with a case study or a survey?

Good MADVS project topics are narrow enough for one person and tied to evidence that can actually be collected. Annexure I of the IGNOU MADVS project handbook lists 40 sample areas and says plainly that learners are not limited to them. The handbook asks the learner to weigh the topic’s relevance to development studies, the time available, whether data can be collected in that time, the cost, and access to communication facilities and the local language. The method then follows from the question: a case study studies one unit in depth, whether a person, a family, an institution or a community, while a survey collects comparable answers from many respondents.

A handbook area is a starting point, not a title. “Evaluation of MGNREGA” becomes workable once it names one gram panchayat, one aspect such as timeliness of wage payment, and one group of respondents. No official MADVS project sample report has been published; the nearest thing is the model title page in Annexure V, which uses “Evaluation of Contract Farming” as its example title.

Writing the report

How long is an IGNOU MADVS project report, and in what order?

An IGNOU MADVS project report runs to about 40 to 50 typed pages at 1.5 line spacing and should not exceed roughly 10,000 words, excluding appendices and exhibits; the handbook allows 10 percent variation either way, so about 9,000 to 11,000 words is within the MADVS project word limit. The report is written in English, on A4 paper, and references follow APA style, listed alphabetically.

The handbook describes the MADVS project report format twice, once as a short list and once in detail, and the two differ slightly: the short list ends with a Summary, the detailed one with Conclusion, Limitations and Suggestions for Further Work. Combining both gives an order that satisfies either reading:

1. Title page, as in Annexure V, showing course code MDVP-117, title, name, enrolment number, address, School and year.
2. The approved project proposal proforma, as the second page.
3. Certificate of originality, Annexure III, signed by learner and supervisor.
4. Acknowledgements, if any, and the table of contents.
5. Introduction, with objectives, problem statement and rationale.
6. Review of literature.
7. Research methodology: locale, sample, tools and statistical techniques.
8. Results and discussion, with tables and graphs.
9. Summary and conclusion, then limitations and suggestions for further work.
10. References in APA style.
11. Appendix: the interview schedule or questionnaire used.

For data collection, analysis and report writing, the handbook points back to Blocks 4 and 5 of MDV-106 Research Methodology in Development Studies, and to Block 1 of the same course for writing a proposal. MDV-106 is a first-year course, so the material a learner has already studied doubles as the project’s method manual.

Submission and marks

How is the MDVP-117 report submitted and marked today?

The IGNOU MADVS project report is now uploaded, not posted. The handbook was written for a hard-bound copy sent by Registered or Speed Post; IGNOU’s online project portal, which opens a fresh link for each examination cycle, has replaced that route for MADVS project submission. Where the two disagree, the portal notice for the session is the current rule.

Two gaps are worth closing early. The portal list does not mention the supervisor’s remuneration bill, which the handbook says must accompany the report, so the Regional Centre should be asked how SOEDS now wants it sent. And the MADVS project viva is not described in the handbook at all, so its schedule comes only from the Regional Centre.

Evaluation itself has not changed. The project carries 100 marks, a learner needs at least 40 percent to complete it, and the Student Evaluation Division picks the examiner from a list approved by SOEDS. The handbook adds that evaluated reports are not returned, so a complete copy, with its data, should be kept. How the portal cycles work across programmes is set out on the ignouproject.shop project hub.

Avoidable setbacks

What gets an MDVP-117 proposal or report sent back?

Most problems with an IGNOU MADVS project are visible at the paperwork stage:

• No signed supervisor bio-data. The proforma states that such a proposal is not entertained, counsellor or not.
• An unexplained supervisor change. A new supervisor means a new proposal on a new proforma.
• A broad, national topic. One learner cannot survey “MGNREGA in India”; one panchayat is a study.
• A methodology section with no locale or sample. The handbook names locale, sampling, instruments and statistical tools as required parts.
• A resubmission without the old papers. The rejected proposal, its commented proforma and the P.P. Number go back in with the revision.
• A report far outside the length band, or without the approved proforma as its second page.
• Fee not paid with the TEE form, or a report sent by email instead of the portal.

Independent study-help disclosure: ignouproject.shop is run by Shri Chakradhar Publication Pvt. Ltd. and is not the official website of IGNOU or SOEDS. This article summarises published university documents for guidance only; official notifications on ignou.ac.in prevail over anything written here.

Written & Reviewed By

BK Sahni iD 0009-0005-8092-459X

Founder, Shri Chakradhar Publication Pvt. Ltd. & its IGNOU Project study-help brand, helping IGNOU distance-learning students since 2010 and having guided 5,00,000 students till date across MBA, MCom, MA & more. Author of IGNOU exam guides, solved assignments & project reference books.

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Editorial method: Content is cross-checked against official IGNOU and Samarth notifications and the latest assignment, exam, and project guidelines on ignou.ac.in before each update. Refreshed before every June & December TEE cycle. Published research: author of open-access IGNOU project methodology guides on Zenodo (CERN), indexed with permanent DOIs.

Disclosure: Shri Chakradhar Publication Pvt. Ltd. and ignouproject.shop are independent third-party study-help services, not the official IGNOU website. Always verify final dates and rules on ignou.ac.in.