The e-government procurement system has almost been unable to check corruption in the public procurement that crossed over two lakh trillion taka annually, says anti-graft campaigner Transparency International Bangladesh. Fed by World Bank (WB), the e-GP was introduced in 2011 but failed to stop corruption among the public entities involved in implementing development projects. The effort was also a part of government commitment to digitise public services by 2021, which got derailed because of political influence as well as collusion and syndication.
The observation came up in a recent TIB study that included four public entities: Local Government and Engineering Department, Roads and Highways Department, Water Development Board and Rural Electrification Board based on five criteria – institutional capacity, e-GP process, e-contract management, transparency and accountability, and effectiveness. The study revealed that political inertia failed to ensure transparency in public procurement. Since 2002, the WB has been helping Bangladesh improve its public procurement system, and in 2011, the WB supported the rollout of e-GP in four key procuring entities. Currently, about 35 per cent of the annual development budget is executed using the e-GP platform. The WB is providing technical and financial supports, but problems like collusion and syndication are engulfing the system allegedly due to interest of the ruling party driven by its political will.
The study suggested that the annual procurement plan of each procuring entity must be made at the beginning of each financial year and uploaded on the website while an online database on contractors must be developed. The Central Procurement and Technical Unit under the Planning Ministry should have an integrated automated tender evaluation system that will be used by all government procurement entities. Activities of each procuring entity should be monitored at the local level with the participation of general people through community monitoring tools.
One cannot think of any government project where there is transparency to avoid corruption. The corruption is the backbone of this government. Therefore, no hardness is necessary to know collective corruption and secrecy.
One cannot think of any government project where there is transparency to avoid corruption. The corruption is the backbone of this government. Therefore, no hardness is necessary to know collective corruption and secrecy.
