LOKMAT NEWS NETWORK
Nashik, Oct 27
After the Ministry of Rural Development ordered that Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis, and Gram Panchayats should conduct any procurement process from the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal only, instructions have been given to all the Gram Panchayats to register on the GeM portal. More than 50 percent of the 1,385 Gram Panchayats in Nashik district have registered on the GeM portal within five months following the order that was issued in May. Nashik district has topped the total number of Gram Panchayats registering on the GeM portal.
According to the instructions of the Ministry of Rural Development, it is mandatory for the rural local self-government bodies to carry out the e-tender process if the amount is Rs 10 lakh for construction and Rs 3 lakh for procurement. Procurement or construction within that amount is done through offline tender. Mostly, offline procurement happens by ordering three sealed envelopes from the same supplier. Due to this, the government realised that procurement was not being done transparently. Hence, the union government has developed a Government e-Marketplace. Through this portal, all the facilities of purchase are available as per the government decision of the Industries and Energy Department and the purchase on this portal is possible without any human intervention.
Procurement above Rs 3 lakhs by the local self-government bodies is conducted through e-tender or GeM portal and any order below that amount is issued by asking rates in sealed envelopes. Due to this, the Ministry of Rural Development has instructed the rural local self-government bodies to henceforth make all purchases through the GeM portal. Deputy Chief Executive Officer Varsha Fadol said that so far 797 Gram Panchayats in Nashik district have taken the lead by registering on this portal.
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Local producers get a preference
All the items required by the local bodies are available on the GeM portal. Due to this, the Rural Development Department has also given instructions to give preference to local suppliers or manufacturers while purchasing from the GeM portal of local self-government bodies. Gram Panchayats will start purchasing from the GeM portal; and if local manufacturers or suppliers will also register on the GeM portal, there will be transparency in the procurement process of these local bodies.