30 govt offices to move for 100pc e-GP

Special Correspondent

The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) under the planning ministry has asked 30 government and autonomous entities to go for 100 per cent electronic procurement soon.

Pradip Ranjan Chakrabarty, member, Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division under the ministry, in separate letters last week asked the entity heads to comply with the directives of the government to ensure transparency and accountability in spending public funds.

Officials concerned at the CPTU said around 80 to 85 per cent of annual government procurement takes place through these 30 agencies.

“Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) will help establish transparency and accountability in the public procurement,” Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury, director general, CPTU, told The Business Post.

He said the CPTU had been encouraging public offices for necessary measures to make sure that all procurements take place through digitally.

The entities for which the directive was issued include Election Commission, Bangladesh Police, Local Government Engineering Department, Roads and High Ways Department, Bangladesh Water Development Board, Public Works Department, Department of Public Health Engineering, Bangladesh Power Development Board, Directorate of Primary Education, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Directorate of Food, Directorate General Health Services, Central Medical Storage Department, Department of Agriculture Extension, Department of Fisheries, Directorate of Livestock Services, Director General Family Planning, Education Engineering Department, Directorate of Technical Education, Health Engineering Department, Chittagong WASA, Dhaka WASA, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakha, National Curriculum and Text Book Board, Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board, Local Govt Institute, National Sports Council, Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation.

The Office of the Controller General of Accounts and Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh are the strategic organisations of the planning ministry aimed at fully implementing their e-procurement drive.

Sources at the CPTU said around 60 per cent procurement of goods and services of all public and autonomous bodies in the country now takes place through e-procurement.

According to a recent estimate of the World Bank, the country procures goods and services worth around $25 billion a year.

Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) refers to the use of information and communication technologies to enable a more efficient and transparent exchange of information, and interactions and transactions between government and suppliers of goods and services.

Digital technologies are being increasingly adopted to achieve standardisation and consistency, which, in turn, speed up the public procurement process.

Experts at the CPTU said the use of these technologies is contributing to greater transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness in public

spending by enabling more open, innovative and accountable public entities.

They said the e-GP facilitates simplification and/or elimination of repetitive and redundant tasks resulting in cost and time savings throughout the procurement cycle.

Meanwhile, the CPTU is planning to launch the Electronic Contract Management System. Under the planned system, contractors and suppliers will submit their every required document online and their auditing will also be completed online.

The contractors will also get their cheques through online system, said Mohammed Shoheler Rahman.

Initially, the planned system will run on a pilot basis comprising seven public agencies, it was learnt.