Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina deserves appreciation for declaring her government's vision for building a Digital Bangladesh by 2021. Nevertheless, the hurdles to achieving the goal are formidable.
The intention to keep pace with the global scenario is important here. If we do not want to make something happen, who else will come to do it for us?
The declaration for building a Digital Bangladesh has infused a sense of awareness into the minds of the citizens about the necessity and importance of going digital. The actions of the government in making this happen need to be assessed over a substantial period of time.
Certainly, the government has taken up some pragmatic steps to that end. The Right to Information Act is now in place, ICT Policy and Act have been framed, e-commerce has been initiated, and various programs under the Access to Information (A2I) Project have been undertaken for establishing e-government. Some utility bills can now be paid through mobile phones. Public exam results, railway ticketing and some other services have gone online.
There is no denying the fact that the biggest hurdles to achieving the goal are the lack of infrastructure like electricity and connectivity, and capacity building. But, on the plea of such limitations, there is hardly any scope to sit idle. Power generation must increase and connectivity has to be raised at all costs.
The objective of establishing e-government has to be materialised in the run-up to a Digital Bangladesh. On all fronts of governance there should be electronic operation to save time, reduce hassles and ensure transparency through widening access to public information. As part of that process, the government has initiated a process to introduce electronic-tendering in its public procurement system. E-tendering is a part of the electronic government procurement (e-GP).
The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division under the Ministry of Planning has been working in line with the government plan to introduce e-tendering on a limited scale by the end of June, 2010.
Under the auspices of the Public Procurement Reform Project-II (PPRP-II) supported by the World Bank, e-tendering would be introduced first in four target agencies -- Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED), Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Rural Electrification Board (REB).
According to statistics of the World Bank in 2002, the total value of public procurement in the country was estimated to be more than $3 billion a year. By this time it has increased further. The average annual value of procurement of goods, works and services by the four target agencies is more than Tk.10 thousand crore. It may vary from year to year.
On the basis of the experience, realities and needs learnt from the initial functioning of the e-tendering, the government has a plan to spread it all over the country in phases. As part of that, the CPTU under the PPRP-II has provided computers and other hardware and accessories to more than 250 offices of the four target entities in different districts. Providing internet connectivity to those offices is now under process. Gradually, the e-GP will also be launched and rolled out to all procuring entities.
In the age of technological advancement and globalisation, e-GP is regarded as a very modern system of procurement. It will save time, remove physical barriers to a great extent and increase competition, leading to improvement in the quality of procurement.
Competent quarters are of the opinion that, along with the opportunities of the e-GP, its challenges are also enormous. These lie in ensuring adequate infrastructures and enhancing skills and awareness of both the procuring officials and the tenderers.
Experience of India and South Korea in having e-GP system fully functional shows that it took about seven years in Hyderabad of Andhra Pradesh and five years in Seoul. Moving to the e-GP system in Bangladesh requires caution, adequate preparation and infrastructures. The government is, therefore, heading towards the system carefully.
The CPTU has already formulated a draft guideline as to how e-GP can be operationalised keeping in view the provisions of the Public Procurement Act-2006, Public Procurement Rules-2008 and the ICT Policy and Act. The guideline is now being finalised in consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
To establish e-GP and to store and use the procurement related information, a central data center will be installed at CPTU. Presently, publishing the notices of tenders worth Tk.1 crore and above for procuring goods and works, and Tk.50 lakh and above for consulting services and the award of contracts on the CPTU website (www.cptu.gov.bd) is mandatory.
Different procuring entities now send their tender notices both online and offline. When e-tendering will be in place, all such information and monitoring will be done online. And under the e-GP system, the whole cycle of procurement will be done electronically.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Shafiul Islam
Quelle/Source: The Daily Star, 23.03.2010
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