India can use the pandemic to establish permanent reforms in its public procurement system to support and sustain economic recovery. Examine (200 Words)
Refer - Financial Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
Public procurement is a key lever available with the Indian state to overcome the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis.
Permanent Reforms
· India can emphasise quality as much as cost in public procurement, with due concern to affordability. The procurement ecosystem is riddled with quality challenges.
· For instance, healthcare practitioners are complaining about the poor quality of personal protective equipment (PPE) in public hospitals for battling COVID-19
· A useful benchmark for quality-orientation is the European Union’s (EU) 2014 directive on public procurement. The rules conceptualise a “price-quality ratio”, in a departure from the erstwhile focus on lowest price-the latter analogous to India’s current system.
· India should further its innovation agenda through public procurement. The long-term economic recovery from the coronavirus is contingent on innovation-driven productivity gains.
· The universalisation of the “swiss-challenge” method of procurement is a solution to this challenge. In this, bidders can make unsolicited proposals to the state. This method has been used for new infrastructure works and is formally recognised in a handful of states, like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
· India can introduce new legislation to smoothen and repurpose public procurement. The finance ministry’s General Financial Rules govern the procurement ecosystem.
