A group of sarpanches from villages in Haryana attempted to march to the Chief Minister’s residence in Chandigarh on March 1 but were prevented from doing so by the police who resorted to lathi charge. For the last two months (from around Dec 2022), the sarpanches have been protesting against the implementation of e-tendering for rural development projects.
In this context, what is Haryana’s e-tendering policy for rural projects? Why are the sarpanches protesting? Know more about this in this article. This is relevant for the UPSC current affairs segment.
What is Haryana’s e-Tendering Policy?
The Haryana government introduced e-tendering in March 2022, with an aim to ensure transparency, accountability, and faster execution of infrastructure projects in villages.
- The new system allows village panchayats to carry out works up to Rs. 2 lahks on their own, while projects of higher value have to be carried out through e-tendering.
Why is it being opposed?
- The village heads or sarpanches perceive this as an attempt to take away the powers of panchayats, and the newly elected sarpanches believe that the e-tender move is intended to strip the panchayat raj institutions of their power.
- The sarpanches’ opposition began around two months ago, after elections for sarpanches were held in November 2022.
- While the government claims that the e-tendering initiative was introduced as part of its zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, the sarpanches believe that it is an attempt to centralize power and control the tendering system of nearly 6,200 village panchayats.
- The sarpanches hold considerable influence among villagers, with many having dedicated teams of volunteers. As a result, the opposition parties have supported the protesting sarpanches.
State government’s stand:
- According to the Chief Minister, this initiative is part of the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards corruption.
- According to the government, it is the duty of the panchayats to ensure the smooth execution of infrastructure works.
What is e-tendering policy, and how does it ensures transparency?
E-tendering is a process of inviting and receiving bids for contracts or projects online, using an electronic platform.
- The e-tendering policy is a government initiative to streamline the procurement process, reduce corruption, and increase transparency and accountability.
- Under the e-tendering policy, all interested parties are required to submit their bids electronically on the designated platform, where they can view and compare all the bids in a transparent manner.
- The policy also ensures that all bidders are provided with equal opportunities, and no one is given preferential treatment.
- The use of an electronic platform reduces the need for physical paperwork, eliminates the possibility of human errors, and increases the speed and efficiency of the procurement process.
- Moreover, the policy mandates that all bids are evaluated on objective criteria and eliminates the possibility of any bias or personal favouritism.
Haryana’s e-Tendering Policy:- Download PDF Here
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