A virtual meeting of the sub-committee of the Public-Private Stakeholders Committee (PPSC) on public procurement was held on 25 January 2021.

The nine-member sub-committee of the 38-member PPSC underscored the importance of citizen engagement in public procurement.

Director General of CPTU Mr. Md. Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury, the member-secretary of the sub-committee, moderated the meeting with its Convener and Secretary, IMED Mr. Pradip Ranjan Chakraborty in the chair.

Representatives from the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Foreign Aided Projects Audit Directorate (FAPAD), Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), and Bangladesh Government and Tenderers Forum (BGTF) attended the sub-committee meeting. The task of the sub-committee, among others, is to facilitate activities of 38-member PPSC. 

The objective of the sub-committee meeting was to take stock of progress in citizen monitoring of contract implementation in 48 upazillas and setting the agenda for the next PPSC meeting. The BIGD of BRAC University has been managing the citizen engagement in public procurement under DIMAPPP which is being implemented by CPTU of IMED, Ministry of Planning.

Dr Mirza Hassan and Ms Salina Aziz made a presentation on this. The participants expressed the view that citizen monitoring in a structured and constructive way can improve the quality of contract implementation. They also highlighted the need for terms of reference (ToR) for the citizens who are involved in monitoring contract implementation in the field.

The sub-committee members also raised a plethora of issues relating to PPR, STDs and DoFP. The DG CPTU said that solution to most of the issues exists in the PPR. A few others are now under consideration of the policy makers for necessary changes.

The Secretary, IMED mentioned that the main goal of citizen engagement is to improve quality of procurement implementation. The necessity of citizen engagement has arisen out of lapses in quality of implementation. The concerned procuring entities and the tenderers have to work sincerely to ensure quality, he noted.

“The people have the right to know because public procurement is done with their money. We need to follow Right to Information Act of the government in disclosing procurement information to citizens,” he said. The DG CPTU said the CPTU has launched a citizen portal to disclose various information of public procurement to citizens.

The secretary also proposed a workshop on sharing of ideas and views on PPR and other procurement related issues. The DG CPTU welcomed the idea and said that CPTU would try to make it happen. The agenda for the next PPSC meeting was also decided in the sub-committee meeting.