In India, public procurement varies between 20% of GDP (WTO estimates) to 30% of GDP (OECD estimates). There are ministries in the Government of India where approximately half of the total budget is spent on public procurement alone. There is a need for integrity in public procurement not merely for ethical requirement but for economic and social uplifting too. Vigilance plays an important role to ensure transparency and prevent malpractices in the public procurement process through Scrutiny, Preventive watchfulness, Investigation, adaptability and reporting.
Vishnuvardhan is the senior stores and purchase officer at IIA.
Vigilance Cell