Money life: Vineeta Deshmukh: Pune: Thursday, September 26, 2024.
Considering that the issuance of contracts through tenders in various infrastructure projects has been mired in controversy—particularly after the recent collapse of bridges, roads and airport ceilings—the information commissioner’s directive to make all tenders transparent is a hope for better accountability of tax payers’ money.
RTI applicant Shriram Tiwary had sought information from the Steel Authority of India (SAI) on the eligibility criteria of a private company called M/S Jitu Construction which had no prior technical work experience – a term and condition that was mandatory.
The tender clearly mentioned that the company bidding for the tender should have experience in the "mechanical maintenance of bag filter based de-dusting/ ventilation systems and their accessories OR mechanical maintenance of screw conveyors of length 10 mtrs or more.” M/S Jitu Construction failed on both counts.
Chief information commissioner (CIC) Heeralal Samariya, in the second appeal hearing last week on 19th September, stated in his order that although SAI’s public information officer (PIO) had responded with some information, “…all tender-related information which is permissible for disclosure under the RTI Act, 2005 should be suo motu disclosed in the public domain in the interest of transparency and accountability.”
Elaborating further on the manner in which the information should be put up in the public domain (SAI’s website), CIC Samariya ordered, “Voluntary disclosure of all information that ought to be displayed in the public domain should be the rule and members of public seeking information through RTI application should be an exception.”
Putting the onus on the public authorities to implement suo motu disclosures under various sections of the RTI Act, CIC Samariya observed in his order that “An open government, which is the cherished objective of the RTI Act, can be realised only if all public offices comply with proactive disclosure norms.”
He concluded in his order that SAI is “advised to ensure that tender-related information permissible for disclosure under the RTI Act, 2005 after taking into consideration the exemptions listed under section 8 (1) of the Act is suo motu disclosed on their website in the interest of public at large.”
To strengthen his decision, CIC Samariya highlighted the following clauses which make it mandatory for public authorities under the RTI Act to be transparent:Section 4(2) of the RTI Act mandates every public authority to provide as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communication, including the internet, so that the public need not resort to the use of the RTI Act.
The department of personnel and training (DoPT)’s guidelines regarding the implementation of suo motu disclosure under section 4 of the RTI Act, 2005 must be followed.
As per the DoPT, information relating to procurement made by public authorities including publication of notice/ tender enquiries, corrigenda thereon and details of bid awards detailing the name of the supplier of goods/services being procured or the works contracts entered or any such combination of these and the rate and total amount at which such procurement or works contract is to be done should be disclosed.
All information disclosable as per the ministry of finance, department of expenditure's O.M. No.10/1/2011-PPC dated 30 November 2011 on the mandatory publication of tender enquiries on the central public procurement portal and O.M. No.10/3/2012-PPC dated 30 March 2012 on the implementation of comprehensive end-to-end e-procurement should be disclosed under section 4. At present, the limit is fixed at Rs10 lakh.
RTI applicant Tiwary had sought the following information which was denied to him by SAI’s PIO:
- The company bidding for the tender should have “mechanical maintenance of bag filter based de- dusting/ ventilation systems and their accessories OR mechanical maintenance of screw conveyors of length 10 mtrs or more" whereas when the financial bid was opened, M/S Jitu Construction has qualified the technical bid with no prior relevant work experience in related work (assigned nature of job profile).
- Provide information on how this aforesaid company has qualified in technical/ criteria bid with zero relevant work experience in the related work profile.
- Furnish all information related to the tender on which grounds M/S Jitu Construction has technically qualified and on which ground their proposal was accepted.
- The CPIO denied the information stating, “The information sought is third-party and is of commercial confidence in nature. Therefore it is exempted u/s 8(1)(d) of the Act.”
(Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also the convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book "To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte" with Vinita Kamte and is the author of "The Mighty Fall".)
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