Procurement without bidding process rampant: OAG report

Banke / Feb 06: Some government agencies and local governments were found to have procured goods and services without soliciting bids.

The 2018/19 report of the Office of Auditor General, the constitutional budget oversight agency has painted a bleak picture of most of the government agencies based in the district.

It is mandatory for the concerned public entity to call quotations for open competition. Nevertheless, the competition has been made among limited forms and entities. Such practices have created ample spaces for fiduciary malaises, the report stated.

According to the OAG report, most of the district-based government offices were found to have purchased the goods in bit and piece against the procurement rule.

According to the Public Procurement Act, the procurement of goods worth above a certain limit should be done at once.

Most of the government offices and local governments are found to proceed the procurement without master plan and annual procurement plan.

The offices were also found to have apathetic to execute the given responsibilities, reads the report. It has affected revenue collection and protection of public properties as well as relegated the public service to backburner.

The status of fiscal transparency is worse in local government than in government offices. However, the government offices are also found working in an unsystematic manner. The Treasury Single Account Office also noted that some offices were found maintaining database in a haphazard way.

Even the District Administration Office is not found systematic in genuinely maintaining data and records for monitoring the government offices and taking actions. RSS