The government is working on a new central public procurement policy to bring transparency, curb irregularities and corruption.The policy aims to plug the inconsistencies in the government purchases as there is no uniformity in guidelines.
About 15 per cent of the Union Budget is spent in procurements. The procurement of services will also be part of the new policy for engaging experts on contracts instead of permanent employment involving salary, service benefits and pension to avoid a big drag on the government's economy.
The services are sought to be procured in the PPP (Public, private partnership) mode. So far there are absolutely no rules for hiring experts and others for providing services.
There will be, however, no centralised procurement, clarified M Raman, who has prepared a concept paper on the draft public procurement policy before laying down the office as the Director General of Supplies and Disposal (DGS&D) last month-end.
A 1976 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, Raman is now the Union Chemicals Secretary. This 42-page document will come up for discussion in the Committee of Secretaries next week.
He points out that many countries have such a policy in practice for many years while it is for the first time when India is drafting a foolproof policy.
Raman gives credit for the whole idea to Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha who wrote to the Cabinet Secretary in February, stressing need to put in place a comprehensive public procurement standards in India with a single authority to handle the task. He even suggested that DGS&D can be reconfigured to serve as a nodal agency.
Officers who held a round of meetings on Sinha's suggestion, however, disagreed on the controls going into the hands of a single agency, but agreed that the uniform guidelines can be evolved that can be used as a tool for achieving the national development goals.
Raman's draft paper suggests a Central Public Procurement Law to cover purchases by all government departments and organisations and lay down rules for different type of procurements.
He has recommended two laws: A substantive law enacted by Parliament to lay down rights and obligations of the public procurement entities and a procedural law that may be laid down by the government, without going to Parliament, to specify the sector-specific rules and procedures for procurement.
The ministries can tweak the second but it should be "in complete concordance with the public procurement law, both substantive and procedural."
The substantive law will be a bare-bone Act covering all issues related to the government purchases like registration of supply sources, modes of tender, security, terms of contract, pricing elements, quality control, tender evaluation and settlement of disputes.
The draft document envisages creation of an independent national nodal authority for public procurement that may be called authority, commission or board, comprising the experts.
It will be a law making and regulatory body, with an advisory role, with mandate to formulate and oversee the procurement activities. It can also be assigned the task of establishing an e-procurement portal or lay down guidelines for a national e-procurement programme.
