8/9/2019 Article on E-procurement Implimentation in Nepal

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THE HIMALAYAN TIMES, THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2009PAGE 8

Futile missionsBy all accounts, people are getting the impressionthat ministers and secretaries in the governmentservice lose no opportunity to avail foreign trips. As amatter of fact, most of them appear to be preoccu-pied with them and they even consider such junketsto be part of their job to attend seminars organizedby INGOs. But, according to those privy 50 per cent ofthe foreign visits of secretaries and ministers wereunnecessary. This situation must not be allowedto continue for the ministers and secretaries appearto be going on such junkets which a resourcecrunched country like ours can ill afford. As is oftenthe case now, as soon as ministers are appointedand assume office one of the priorities seems to be togo on foreign trips. It is also known that there is in-tense competition amongst ministers and secretariesto go on these junkets. Moreover, it is found that thesame person goes on one foreign trip after anotherinstead of giving others in the same ministry achance to do so.

Another revelation is that the primary decisions

taken by the cabinet of ministers these days is ap-proving foreign visits by the ministers. This is not tosay that the ministers and secretaries are not entitledto go abroad to attend seminars and the like, but theirvisits should have relevance. As is often the case, thisis not so. The ministers should instead be doing

something constructivefor the country and theircountrymen instead ofsquandering scanty re-sources and valuabletime in junkets. If the vis-its are fruitful then, ofcourse, the ministersshould undertake suchvisits in the course ofserving the country. Wefind that most of the visits

are led by ministers and secretaries and theirvisits are sanctioned by the Office of the Prime Minis-ter and Council of Minister which possess the au-thority to do so. It is also found that these visitsare approved without assessing them, so the minis-ters and secretaries are continuing to embark ontrips at the expense of the national cofers that serve

no useful purpose.However, it must be said here that one of the rea-

sons why the government service entices manyis the opportunity it affords to travel abroad. Thecommon man finds it difficult to travel at his/herown expense. Among the various government min-istries, certain ministries afford more chances fortheir staff to go on junkets. Here again it should beemphasized that the visits are alright if they servethe purpose, but they should not be merepleasure trips. Therefore, it is essential that amechanism is developed to assess if such visits haverelevance and accrues benefits in some way or otherto the country. Since the decision is made at thehigh level, the Prime Minister should act in a respon-sible manner while approving the visits as the ChiefSecretary cannot scrap proposals of such visits. Fortheir part, the ministers and secretaries should notabuse their post by going after unnecessary foreignvisits, and they should be more responsible tothe country and people and travel abroad only

when their duty and job demands it and not tomake their post a platform to go on trips just for thefun of it at the nations cost.

Hooting matterWhen it came to poaching and trafficking animalorgan and parts, the image of a tiger or rhinoc-

eros would automatically spring into the mind. Thelack of publicity maybe the reason why many peopledo not have an idea as to the other animals, birds,reptiles, insects, fish, etc. that are on the endangeredlist and nearing extinction. The case of the EurasianEagle Owl is a case in point as has been reported inthis daily. It has been pushed to the brink of extinc-tion. This is a sad case of inadequate attention givento their protection. The law may have all the tough

words against poaching and smuggling of such livingcreatures, but the laxity of the enforcement of the le-gal provisions has been a grievous misfortune for theunique and diverse wildlife of Nepal.

The lucrative trade in such exotic owls has flour-ished because of the ease with which the illegal activ-ities can be carried out. There also have been reportsof political influence being used to get the poachersreleased for free even if they fall into the hands of thesecurity personnel. Political commitment and strict

enforcement of the legal provisions are a must to saveour natural wealth in the form of flora and fauna.

TheHimalayanT I M E S

A TH O U GH T F O R TO D A Y

Vote for the man who promises least. Hell be theleast disappointing. Bernard Baruch

LETTERS

ModernproblemsThe generalization of the sevenconcessionaires, as though asingle entity, and theinaccuracies in the facts andfigures has dragged Tiger Topsinto this fray most reluctantly.Quite honestly, we do not see thereason why the lease renewalissue should reach a level of nearhysteria. To our way of thinking,it is a simple matter of the legalinterpretation of Clause 6 of theNational Park Act - 2029 andsubsequent Clause 3.1 of theRegulations & Directives 2030.Whilst the National Parkauthorities understand this asbeing applicable to all lessees,current and new entrants; ourunderstanding, as confirmed bysenior advocates, is that it isapplicable to new lodges/resorts

only as the concerned extantlodges have individualagreements which clearlymention that the lease can berenewed by mutual agreement.Additionally, one must realisethat the clause was written afterthe existence of Tiger Tops as wepre-date the parks legislation thus we cannot be made totender post establishment.

Perhaps the reluctance on thepart of the Government to renewthe lease is an indication that theNational Park Act itself needsamending and that rather thanadmit that they are caught on the

wrong foot are desperately tryingto muddle through the process. Aclassic case of trying to findsolution to modern problemswithin outdated rules.

As the oldest lodge inside thenational park, Tiger Tops hasalways been in the forefront ofconservation tourism and has

been able to keep and maintainthe delicate balance betweentourism and conservation. Sostrong is our effort in this that wecan proudly claim to be aninstitution in itself. We areconstantly putting up ourstandards in maintaining qualityservice ecological measures. Asthe last evaluation team hasrecorded, we do a good job withour conservation efforts. A recentAmerican tourist re-defined it forus as you are not a tourismorganisation; you are aconservation organisationfunded by tourism this sums

up our approach tidily. Likewise,we are the top mostrevenue-paying lodge inside oroutside the national park withsubstantial employment volumeas well as genuine involvementin works related to social welfarein and round the local areas.

If things go the way they are at

the moment, Tiger Tops has tothink very seriously about itsfuture not only about leaving thenational park but also the wholeof Nepal altogether. Whatmessage that will give topotential foreign investorsand/or conservation fraternity,only time will tell.

Yadav Bantawa, GeneralManager,Tiger Mountain Nepal

DefaultHundreds of people have losttheir lives to diarrhoea,otherwise a simple preventableand treatable disease, nowallowed to assume epidemicproportion due mainly to thecollective default on the part ofgovernment and donor healthand sanitation officials. Given thechronically sorry state of healthand sanitation management in

the rural communities most ofwhich remain roadless, theepidemic had been a disasterwaiting to happen. As if to addinsult to injury to the victims, PMMadhav Kumar Nepal recentlyallowed himself to be serenadedby the Health Secretary when she

told him that the epidemic wouldbe controlled in three months,brazenly suggesting that morepreventable deaths are perfectlyacceptable to the government.Therefore, to show that PM Nepalis heading an accountablegovernment, he mustimmediately form a high levelInquiry Commission to do anin-depth study into thecircumstances that led to thespread of the epidemic in theremote villages only assuggested by Gokul PokhrelEpidemics, people and politics,(THT,August 4) and put in placereforms that would prevent suchsenseless tragedies in future.

Bihari Krishna Shrestha,Chakupat Green Block, Lalitpur

To the pointThis is in response to Gokul

Pokhrels article Epidemics, peo-ple and politics (THT,August 4). Pokhrel is very correctand his article could be aguide-line for the control of theepidemic in the remote West ofthe country.

I would like to suggest thegovernment to be benefitedfrom the ideas incorporated inthe article.

The government shouldstop trying to receive moremoney for the epidemic-controlfrom the foreign donors thatdevelops a culture ofdependency, a psychology offake nationalism and aneconomy of parasitism.

R.Manandhar,via e-mail

Genuine concern of a citizen TOPICS

SHANKAR BABUACHARYA

The saying goes, Rome was notbuilt in a day, which I think meanswe should not expect to build some-thing great in a short period of time. Ittakes really a lot of time and effort toachieve something important. Youmust work hard and overcome manychallenges if you want to complete

your goal.Seeing the pathetic condition of

Nepal, it is quite normal to grow frus-tration and cynicism. As it is, they saynothing happens in Nepal. The politi-cians and experts are supposedly cor-rupt and bad. So its an extremity offoolishness to wait for some miracle tohappen. As a result, many young peo-ple wish to leave their motherland forany other countries around the world.Brain drain is the reality.

Worries and frustration can also

bring positive results. To develop ourcountry, to end the abject poverty andto raise the standard of our education,

we have the potential. There are im-mense possibilities: our geographycan be an asset for our development. Itcan become one of the finest touristdestinations in the world. Rivers canbe utilized for hydropower develop-ment and irrigation. Our medicinalherbs can earn cash. Then why are we

worrying? And, why is Nepal criticallyfacing brain drain problem? Are wor-ries justifiable?

The above mentioned possibilitiesare based on theoretical potentialsonly. All that glitters is not gold. All thepotentials may not materialize. Toconvince Nepalese people for their se-cure future, the foundation for theprogress must be built. Unfortunately,

not much foundation has been laid so

far. Even the few bases that we haveare already deserted, and are uselessand old. We are fighting for the socalled identity.

Also, we are fighting for petty rea-sons, personal interests. People seemto have forgotten the very essentialthings to consider. We will remain onlyif Nepal stands well. We can search forour identity in a prosperous and welldeveloped Nepal.

However, every cloud has a silverlining. Foundations can be creatednow. Our dedication and hard work

will definitely make a new Nepal.Drafting of a good constitution will beour landmark for a better future. Lets

join hands together. We must workhard and keep working hard if we wantto build something great i.e. a prosper-ous and developed Nepal.

E-procurement implementationComing to Nepalese context

SATYANARAYANSHAH

There is much to be donein Nepal for good gover-nance. As a developing

country, a major portion ofNepals annual budget isused in the procurement of

works, goods, and services.Hence, it becomes impor-tant to give more emphasison these activities in orderto accomplish them in atransparent and efficientmanner. It is well known toall that the project executingdepartments suffer espe-cially in procurementprocesses. Physical threatsto bidders, cartel formation,suppressed competition,pressures on departmentofficials, inordinate delaysin tender finalization, hu-man interface, manipula-tions, tampering, inade-quate transparency, adversepress coverage on tenderfracas are the most com-

mon incidences that hap-pens during the procure-ment processes. A recent in-cident during the tenderingprocess happened in theTrichandra College throws avery sad example of gettingour young citizens involvedin the illegal and unsocialactivities. This shows howdeeply rooted corruption isin the procurement processin the country.

Nepal alone is not facingsuch problems but there are

other countries also thathave faced such incidences.The difference is that theyhave learnt lessons frommistakes and cleared the

hurdles, whereas we havebeen watching helple ssly.

India has devised and im-plemented E-procurementsystem in order to overcomeall these unfortunate inci-dences. Over 75 per cent ofbudget is spent through theprocurement process. Thuse-procurement systemshould be considered as oneof the major components ofgood governance. To launchthis system it demands apolitical decision with hon-est commitment as a primerequirement. Like in India, itstarted with a strong willpower and great sense of ac-countability of the thenchief minister of AndhraPradesh (India), Mr. Chan-dra Babu Naidu.

To bring his words in

practice he applied SMARTas a strategic tool, which isabbreviation of Simple,Moral, Accountable, Re-sponsive and TransparentGovernment backed by e-governance. He very wellknew the importance of thetechnology in fosteringgood governance. That is

why he could be successfulin using Information Tech-nology for this purpose.

Mr. Naidu didnt only im-plement the system in his

state but could be success-ful in developing his systemas exemplary in India andabroad. It was possible onlydue to his wide political vi-sion and strong commit-ment as well as bureaucratichonesty and dedication.Due to this achievement thestate has been able to per-form the procurement

worth about IRs. 15 thou-sand crores in the last

year without any hassleand controversy.

The success of the modelis also exemplary to the restof the developing countries.The special features of thismodel are that there is nocapital cost to the state andthe risk is equally shared

combining accountabilitywith efficiency. The partnerdesigned, developed andlaunched the applicationunder the guidelines fixed

by the government with anagreement for one year aspilot program to be imple-mented by four depart-ments only. This businessmodel PPP started with spe-cial features of paymentmodality. The bidders donot have to pay for any bid-ding fees like documentcosts and bid security like

we do in Nepal. In thismodality the serviceprovider and the beneficia-ries are doing well withoutany complaints and theusers are increasing every

year. The major benefitsdemonstrated after imple-mentation of the systemcan be listed as the cost sav-ings to a tune of IRs3700 crores accounting toeconomy in advertising and

other procedural expenses,improved efficiency (120days to 32 days) in finalizingthe tenders, transparency,elimination of contractorcartels, empowermentof bidders, remote submis-sion of bids, reduced bid-ding and incidental costsand dependence on depart-mental officials.

Transparency, which isone of the main objectivesof good governance, isachieved through this sys-

tem as it enables automatice-mail to bidders on tenderpublication, bid documentsavailable on net in publicdomain, corrigendum in

public domain, no interfacewith departments up to ten-der opening, support docu-ments are open to competi-tive bidders soon aftertender opening, tenderevaluation status automati-cally notified to bidders,procurement status inpublic domain.

Department of Roads ofour country has also startede-procurement by imple-menting e-submission ofbids after a public notice onBS 2064/8/24. This is not acomplete replacementof the traditional biddingmethods as it is not manda-tory. This only enablesa bidder to submit theirtenders through public do-main provided by theDepartment of Roads

at www.dor.gov.np but atthe same time the bidderhas to submit their hard-copy documents to the de-partment, which is manda-tory. There is no omission ofthe bidding fees. Thisprocess can be taken as afirst step towards imple-mentation of a complete e-procurement system.

Mr. Shah is a MechanicalEngineer working with theDepartment of Roads as aCoordinator of MIS/IT

Transparency,which is one of the mainobjectives of good governance,is achieved

through e-procurement system as itenables automatic e-mail to bidders on

tender publication,bid documents availableon net in public domain, corrigendum in

public domain,no interface with

departments up to tender opening

CREDOS CARTOON

One evening I wasparked in front of themall wiping off my car. I had

just come from the car washand was waiting for my wifeto finish work. Coming my

way from across the parkinglot was what society wouldconsider a bum. From thelooks of him he had no car,no home, no clean clothesand no money.

There are times when youfeel generous, but there aretimes that you just dont

want to be bothered. Thiswas one of the Dont wantto be bothered times! Hecame and sat on the curb infront of the bus stop.

The expected plea formoney never came. As thesilence between us

widened, something insidesaid, Ask him if he needsany help. I was sure that he

would say yes, but I heldtrue to the inner voice.

Do you need any help? Iasked. He answered in threesimple but profound wordsthat I shall never forget. I ex-pected nothing but an out-stretched grimy hand. Hespoke three words thatshook me, Dont we all? hesaid. I needed help. Maybenot for bus fare or a place tosleep, but I needed help. Ireached in my wallet andgave him not only enoughfor bus fare but enough toget a warm meal and shelterfor the day.

Those three little wordsstill ring true. No matter

how much you have, nomatter how much you haveaccomplished, you needhelp too. Even if its just acompliment, you can givethat! You never know when

you may see someone thatappears to have it all. Theyare waiting on you to givethem what they dont have.

Maybe the man was just astranger wandering. Maybehe was more than that.Maybe he was sent by apower that is great and wiseto minister to a soul toocomfortable in himself.Maybe God looked down,called an Angel, dressed himlike a bum and then said,Go minister to that mancleaning the car, that manneeds help. wow4u.com

Dont we all?

BLOG SURF

On treks

CHRISWALKER

This important energybuilding skill is greattraining for high altitudetrekking. Its very importantfor high altitude training topractice energy absorption,lung cell stimulation,cleansing breath and deepbreathing.

Walk with your head up,chin drawn in slightly,shoulders back and takemeasured steps. Inhale acomplete breath through

your nose, counting (in yourhead), making the inhala-tion extend over the eightcounts. Exhale slowlythrough the nostrils, count-ing as before. Always do thesame number of steps

breathing in as breathingout. Then repeat and try in-creasing the length of in-halation and exhalationcounting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, one count to a stepbreathing normally. Repeatas long as you choose. Even-tually there is no need tostop the practice on a thirtyto forty minute walk. In theHimalayas, you may need tomodify this practice be-cause there is less oxygen ineach breath. It might becounting 1,2 for inhale and1,2 for exhale. walkinspired.com

Letters to this column should be addressed toLetters C/o Edit Page Editor,

The Himalayan Times,Post Box 11651,APCA House,Baidya Khana Road,Kathmandu,Nepalemail:edit@thehimalayantimes.com,

Fax 0977-1-4771959

www.thehimalayantimes.com

It is alwaysseen that thereis intensecompetitionamongst ministersand secretariesto go on junkets