Cabinet may discuss Bill on transparent purchases

New Delhi: A bill which seeks to regulate government purchases above Rs 50 lakh using a transparent bidding process and has a provision to debar bidders found engaged in corrupt practices is likely to come up before the Union Cabinet on Thursday. Currently, there is no overarching legislation governing public procurement by the Central government and central public sector enterprises and the General Financial Rules, 2005, govern procurements made by the Centre. The Finance Ministry proposal, which provides for a jail term ranging from six months to five years for public servants found guilty of demanding and accepting bribes from bidders of government contracts, also seeks to debar bidders found engaged in corrupt practices. The draft Bill is based on the recommendations of Committee on Public Procurement headed by former bureaucrat Vinod Dhall which were accepted by a Group of Ministers to tackle corruption on 22 February. The GoM headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had sent the draft bill for the approval of the Union Cabinet. The draft bill will apply to all Central ministries, departments and PSUs. But purchases meant for defence purposes have been exempted as they are already covered in the Defence Procurement Procedure. Emergency purchases made during natural calamities have also been kept out of the purview of the draft bill. It also aims at ensuring transparency, fair and equitable treatment of bidders, and promote competition and enhance efficiency and economy in the procurement process. The GoM on corruption, formed in January last year, had among its terms of reference, formulation of a transparent public procurement policy. PTI