Govt of India unveils a model for e-procurement of IT goods and services

The Indian IT ministry on Tuesday unveiled a model RFP (request for proposal) for e-procurement of information technology goods and services to ensure a level-playing field for all stakeholders by defining appropriate pre-qualification and technical evaluation criteria for tenders. (Reported LiveMint)

The move meets a key demand from industry players that have been reeling under pending payments and delay in projects.

“It is the consistent representation of Nasscom, as also the major System Integrators like TCS, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, IBM etc, for the need of a model RFP to guide all the organizations across governments, so that all variations, vagaries and uncertainties may be avoided. Based on intensive deliberations with the industry and other stakeholders, this model RFP has been formulated,” the statement from the IT ministry said.

The model RFP seeks to address the various concerns raised from time to time by the industry related to engagements and contracts for government funded projects. These issues include terms of payment, acceptance criteria, service level agreement and change management.

The ministry also announced the establishment of Digital India Corporation (DIC), a new entity to provide strategic support to various departments/ministries for expansion of the Digital India mission.

“It will provide the strategic support to Ministries/Departments of Centre/States for carrying forward the mission of Digital India by way of Capacity Building for e-Governance projects, promoting best practices, encouraging Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), nurturing innovation and technology in various domains.”

“To ensure autonomy and viability of the organization in the long run, the DIC, will also collaborate and mobilize partnerships with the industry, to evolve revenue based models for service delivery,” the statement added.

Addressing the media at an event to discuss the achievements of the ministry during the last three years, Ravi Shankar Prasad, union minister for electronics and IT said, “The aim to have DIC is to have a focused body whereby we can do things in a more professional manner with a corporate strategy by induction of new talent from outside, including private sector, from strategic planning to implementation of projects.”

Prasad also said there’s no mass job-loss in India’s IT sector.” In financial year 2017, the industry added 1,70,000 new jobs. Nasscom has already publicly contradicted reports of a large scale layoff. IT industry added 600,000 in last three years and today, boasts of a total employee base of 3.9 million,” said the ministry statement.

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