Citizens can now know various information of public procurement from ‘Sorkari Kroy Batayan' or citizen portal. This portal contains public procurement information not only of national level but also of all districts of the country. Journalists can get various information from the portal as to where or what kind of development work is being done, which tenders have been or will be invited, what amount of contract awards have been made, which organizations are working, what is the status of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of public procurement etc. The portal can be a great source of information for journalists to prepare objective reports on public procurement.

Speakers made such observations at a workshop on 'Citizen Engagement in Public Procurement' with representatives of various media on 28 December 2023. Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA) of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning, organized the workshop at BPPA Bhaban at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka. The event was organized in cooperation with Dnet, a consulting firm engaged by BPPA in developing and maintaining Sorkari Kroi Batayon (Citizen Portal) under the Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP) supported by the World Bank.

Chief Executive Officer of BPPA Mr. Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury presided over the workshop while IMED Secretary Mr. Abul Kashem Md. Mohiuddin was present as the chief guest. BPPA Director (Additional Secretary) Mr. Mirza Ashfaqur Rahman gave the welcome speech. Executive Director of Dnet and Team Lead, Mr. M Shahadat Hossain, was present on the occasion.  Mr. Hamid-uz Zaman, President of Development Journalists Forum (DJFB) spoke at the workshop. Mr. Andalib Bin Haque, Data Analytics Expert of Dnet, gave a presentation on citizen engagement in public procurement and the Citizen Portal in the event. Journalists of different media outlets participated in the workshop. A total of 30 journalists from various media took part in it. They gave suggestions and comments to make the citizen portal more effective. The Secretary, IMED and the CEO of BPPA gave them patient hearing and both of them expressed the view that the suggestions would be considered.

The CEO said since 2011 up to 27 December 2023, a total of 7 lakh 77 thousand 464 tenders were invited through the e-GP system. The total estimated cost of the invited tenders is 8 lakh 521 crore taka. So far, 1 lakh 11 thousand178 tenderers have registered with the e-GP. A total of 52 banks are connected to e-GP and across the country a total of 6990 branches of those banks are giving payment services to tenderers.

It was mentioned in the workshop that the allocation in the development budget is increasing every year to achieve the government's development goals and targets. Along with that, the amount of expenditure on public procurement is increasing. Currently, nearly 40 per cent of the national budget and 80 per cent of the Annual Development Program (ADP) are spent on public procurement. It is important to ensure transparency and accountability in such huge expenditures. Citizen engagement can play an important role in this regard. BPPA (formerly Central Procurement Technical Unit-CPTU) has launched a Citizen Portal named 'Sakari Karya Batayan' to inform citizens about public procurement issues.

In his welcome speech, BPPA Director (Additional Secretary) Mr. Mirza Ashfaqur Rahman said that BPPA (formerly CPTU) has been implementing various reforms in public procurement with the help of World Bank. One of these reforms is digitization of public procurement or e-GP. Developing a Citizen Portal on public procurement and opening it up to all is also part of the reforms. The government is committed to ensuring transparency and accountability in all its activities. He said, 'We have monitored the implementation of public procurement contracts at the field level by forming citizens' groups in 48 Upazilas of the country. In this, we have got encouraging and positive results. Now we have taken initiatives to engage citizens in public procurement monitoring through the Citizen Portal.’

In the speech of the chief guest, IMED secretary Mr. Abul Kashem Mohiuddin said that journalists are also indirectly engaged in public procurement. They highlight various issues of public procurement through their writings. Various information on public procurement from the Citizen Portal will be helpful for the journalists in preparing the reports. It is a great source of information on public procurement. This portal has been launched to provide information. Very few countries in the world have such citizen portals on procurement.

Chief Executive Officer of BPPA, Mr. Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury said, under the strong and dynamic leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister, there have been groundbreaking reforms in the public procurement system in the last 15 years. These reforms are being appreciated all over the world. So far delegations from 15 countries and international organizations have visited BPPA (formerly CPTU) to learn about procurement reforms and e-GP implementation in Bangladesh.

He said public procurement is done with the tax money of citizens and for their welfare. Every citizen has the right to know how this money is being spent. Gradually, all public procurement information will be released through Citizen Portal, except some confidential and sensitive information. In the future, there will be an initiative to take citizens' opinions on public procurement through this portal. As a result, the public procurement system of the country will surely be more transparent and accountable.