Topic particularly important for UPSC Mains examination- Public Administration Paper I ->5th Topic : Accountability and control.
- What is Public Procurement?
- What is the problem in Public Procurement system?
- Where does the bill apply?
- Where does the bill not apply?
- Salient Features / Provisions of the bill?
- Punishment
What is Public Procurement?
- public procurement means how the public authorities– the Central and State governments, ministries/departments, public sector undertakings or state-owned enterprisesāspend public money buying goods and services.
- For example, a department purchasing vehicles, office equipment, computers, stationary, air-conditioners, refrigerators, buildings, etc.
Public Procurement: Problem areas?
- India’s public procurement systems account for more than Rs. 10 lakh crore of business. This is ~30% of India’s GDP
- Lot of Corruption during the tender/bidding process.
- There are imperceptible pressures from trading partners such as the EU that foreign companies should be allowed to easily participate in India’s public procurement process.
- At present there is no single legislation providing guidelines for public procurement and for giving punishments to bribe givers and bribe takers.
- So Finance ministry introduced Public Procurement Bill, 2012 in Lok Sabha.
- It is based on the recommendations of Committee on Public Procurement, headed by former bureaucrat Vinod Dhall.
- This Bill seeks to make public procurement transparent and corruption-free.
Where does the bill apply?
- Any central department, ministry, PSU or Company where Government has more than 50% stakes.
- For purchases about 50 lakh rupees.
Where does the bill not apply?
- For emergency purchases done during disaster Management, national security.
Salient Features / Provisions of the bill?
- Procuring entity (Ministry/department etc) shall first determine the need for the procurement and estimate the cost of the procurement based on certain specified matters.Ā It may publish information regarding planned procurements.
- Bill provides for setting up a Central Public Procurement Portal.
- This website will ensure transparency in the procurement process.Ā Information such as pre-qualification document and details of bidders shall be displayed on the Portal.
- Ministry/Department shall not limit discriminate against bidder, except for the protection of public order and morality, animal or plant life, intellectual, national security. (means foreign companies can also fill up tenders without trouble- thatās what EU and USA wanted.)
- central government may make procurement mandatory from certain bidders for promotion of domestic industry, socio economic policy, or other considerations in public interest. (means Government can prevent foreign companies from bidding, in special cases)
- Government shall constitute one or more independent procurement redressal committees [under the chairmanship of a retired High Court Judge].Ā
- if any prospective bidder (seller) feels that a particular ministry/department etc. did not consider his product/services for any foul reasons (e.g. if he feels that since he did not give bribe so his tender was rejected) -so in that case he may file an application with such a committee.
Punishment
- Bill providse different penalties for offences such as taking bribes in respect of procurement, interference with the process, making vexation, frivolous or malicious complaints, and abetment of offences.
- Jail time from 6 months to 5 years, for bureaucrats caught taking bribes or creating obstacles in fair bidding.
- Government shall debar a bidder (seller) if he has been convicted of an offence under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1998 or or IPC or if he tries to bribe an officer / otherwise play mischief in the bidding.
Dear Sir,
Tell me the actual fact- Which five year plan had the objective “Garibi Hatao”?
I am really confused.Somewhere it is 4th and somewhere it is 5th.
Which one is correct?
5th plan mainly aimed at removal of poverty and slogan belonged to it. however it actually was the 6th plan that had poverty removal as its foremost objective that is second coming of indira gandhi. 4th plan was more concerned with reduction of inequalities.
but mrunal garibi hatao was given in 1971 and 4th plan was in 69….so approach must hv been adopted in 5th
you’re right. I checked with both TMH and Unique GS manual, poverty removal was the objective of fifth FYP so answer should be fifth five year plan.
4th plan
growth with justice and garibi hatao were the main objectives.
i am absolutely sure it’s 4th plan(1969-74)
sure about the slogan which was given during 4th plan and 5th plan priority was removal of poverty and stability of economy
No, its 5th plan (1974-79) the objectives were ‘Removal of poverty’ & ‘Attainment of self reliance’, and the objectives of 4th plan were ‘growth with stability and progress towards self-reliance’.
Reopened this old case because, I have just gone through the chapter ‘Planning in India’ of ‘Indian Economy’ by Ramesh Singh, where it is clearly mentioned that ‘Garibi Hatao’ was the slogan of the Sixth Plan.
mrunal…we could see…vajiram current affairs materials flooding the market…do we need to get it??
UPSC too buys their notes, to make sure nothing is asked from it. (as happened in past exams) so this time they released their notes late than usual, to counter UPSC’s move.
But now very few days left before the exam, so even if Vaji happens to “outsmart” UPSC, the amount of hours required to mug up its current affairs = for next 7-8 days you’ll have to leave all the other books aside.
At this juncture, Better invest your time and energy in revising whatever you’ve prepared so far + any current affairs material that you had compiled on your own.
Otherwise, there is no dearth of 2marker S&T, Persons in News, F1 flags etc. but beyond a level, it should not be prepared at the expense of regular topics of History, Polity, Geography etc.
All the best.
Awesome reply Mrunal… Ha HA ha
Satya Vachan !!!! Mrunal.
there is a saying buy vajiram material to see what NOT to read :D
thank you mrunal…i ve taken my own notes on imp editorials for the past 8-10 months…hope it will serve the purpose
thank you
Hi Kartthkeyan
Can you share ur notes with me on my mail ID arpansgupta@gmail.com
Garibi Hatoa was originated in the regime of Smt. Indira gandhi and initiated by her. For Sure. Mug up this and mark anywhere with blind eye
so india is moving towards more globalistion in administration also
Mrunal if possible can you also add the feature of downloading artice as pdf.I do agree that I can save as html or use print option but if its possible then it will of great help.Thank you
Thanks mrunal.i am from a semi urban area from tamilnadu and i hav cleared upsc prelims in my first attempt and now gng to write mains.ur website has the major part in my preparation.plz continue the same.
in the above statement,please refer the line “prevention of corruption act”.whether it is 1998 or 1988.
QUESTION PAPER Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner Recruitment Test, 2012 Held on 23rd September 2012
QUESTION PAPER
Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner Recruitment Test, 2012
Held on 23rd September 2012
1. It is said that, in order to control inflation, foreign inflow needs to be sterlized. Sterlization here refers to :
(A) Ensuring that counterfeit currency does not enter circulation.
(B) Ensuring that black money is accounted for
(C) withdrawing equivalent local currency to maintain a desirable rate of exchange
(D) compliance with import-export regulation.
2. NABARD means:
(A) National Bank for Agiculture and Rural Development
(B) National Agriculture Bank and Rural Development.āYES
(C) National Agriculture Board and Rural Development
(D) National Board for Agriculture and Rural Area Development.
3. In which of the following Act, housing facility is a statutory provision?
(A) The Plantation Labour Act, 1951—YES
(B) The Factories Act, 1948
(C) The Mines Act, 1952
(D) None of the Above
4. If the RBI adopts an expansionist open market operations policy, this means it will :
(A) Sell securities in the open Market—YES
(B) Buy securities from non-government holders.
(C) Openly announces to the market that it intends to expand credit.
(D) Offer commercial banks more credit in the open market.
5. Structural planning refers to :
(A) Centralized planning
(B) Laying down broad goals and strategies.
(C) Changing existing instititions or creating new ones.—YES
(D) Fixing flexible targers.
6. Three states which have Human Development Index(HDI) higher than china are :
(A) Kerala, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh
(B) Kerala, Punjab and Maharashtra
(C) Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab
(D) Kerala Madhya Pradesh and Gujrat
7. The newly introduced rupee symbol is based on :
(A) Roman and Greek Script.
(B) Persian and Dravidian Script
(C) Roman and Devanagari Script—YES
(D) Greek and Devnagari Script
8. Which one of the following institutions was NOT set up by the constitution of India?
(A) Union Public Service Commission
(B) Election Commission
(C) Planning Commission—YES
(D) Union Judiciary
9. One of the following Government of India programme aims to help, build or upgraded dwelling units of below the poverty line rural families.
(A) National Social Assistance Programme
(B) Jawahar Rojgar Yojana
(C) Indira Awas Yojana—YES
(D) Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
10. The Seventh Schedule of the constitution of india contains provisions regarding
(A) Scheduled Languages
(B) Oaths and affirmations
(C) Administartion of Tribal areas
(D) Union, State, Concurrent Lists—YES
11. The responsibility of preparation of electoral rolls in india rests with:
(A) The Parliament
(B) The Local Administrations
(C) The Election Commission—YES
(D) The returing officer
12. Which of the following is NOT covered by the employee provident fund and miscellaneous provision Act, 1952
(A) Pension
(B) Provident Fund
(C) Deposit Linked Insurance
(D) Injury Compensation—YES
13. What is the maximum limit of gratutity payable under the payement of Gratuity Act, 1972?
(A) 3 Lakhs Rupees
(B) 7.5 Lakhs Rupees
(C) 10 Lakhs Rupees
(D) 10.5 Lakhs Rupees
14. In which part of the Indian Constitution, worker’s participation in Management has been incorporated ?
(A) The Preamble
(B) The Fundament Rights
(C) The Directive Principles of state policy
(D) None of the above
15. Which of the following is the earliest to be constituted ?
(A) Press council of india
(B) United News of India
(C) NAM News Network
(D) Press Trust of India
16. if 20% of P = 30% of Q = 1/6 of R, then P:Q:R is
(A) 2:3:16
(B) 3:2:16
(C) 10:15:18
(D) 15:10:18—YES
17. A tree increases annualy by 1/8th of its height. What will be its height after 2 years, if it stand today 64 cm height?
(A) 72 cm
(B) 74 cm
(C) 81 cm—YES
(D) 85 cm
18. the sides of a traingle GHL are GH=65m, HL=75m and LG=80m. what is the area of triangle?
(A) 2100 m2
(B) 2160 m2
(C) 2200 m2
(D) 2280 m2
19. A train travel at a certain average speed for a distance of 63 Km. Thereafter it travel a distance of 72 Km with an average speed of 6 Km/Hour more than original Speed. Total time taken to complete the journey is 3 hours. What is the original average speed of the train?
(A) 36 Km/hour
(B) 42 Km/hour
(C) 48 Km/hour
(D) 54 Km/hour
20. A iron rod of 1 cm diameter and 8 cm length is drawn into a wire of 18m height with uniform thickness. The thicness of the wire would be :
(A) 1/21 cm
(B) 1/18 cm
(C)1/15 cm—YES
(D) 1/12 cm
21. A 60 m long train travels at a uniform speed of 72 km/hour. it passes non-stop along the 600m platform of a wayside station. What is the elapsed time for the train to entirely clear the platform?
(A) 30 seconds
(B) 31 seconds
(C) 32 seconds
(D) 33 seconds—YES
22. Train A is 75 m long and travels at a uniform speed of 54 Km/hour. Train B is 125m long and travels a uniform speed of 36km/hour in the direction opposite to that of train A. if these trains are crossing at a double-track stretch. what is the time taken for the two trains to fully clear each other ?
(A) 10 seconds
(B) 8 seconds—YES
(C) 7.2 seconds
(D) 6.6 seconds
23. Biome, largest recgnizable assemblage of animals and plants on the earth, is controlled mainly by :
(A) Biological activity
(B) Landforms
(C) Climate
(D) Soil
24. For calculating Body Mass Index(BMI) weight of the person(in kg) is divided by the :
(A) Square of the weight (in kg)
(B) Square of the height (in meters)—YES
(C) Square root of the height (in meters)
(D) Vitamins intake
25. Which term is used to describe the spread of Budhism from India through southeast Asisa?
(A) Social mobility
(B) Cultural diffusion
(C) Ethnocentrism
(D) Interdependence
26. The main objective of the minimum wages Act, 1948 to safeguard the interest of the workers engaged in :
(A) unorganized sector—YES
(B) Organized Sector
(C) Industrial Sector
(D) Agricultural Sector
27. Which one of the following expresses the relation beteen normal price and market price ?
(A) Market price is greater than normal price—YES
(B) Market price is equal to normal price
(C) Market price tends to be equal to normal price
(D) Market price is lesser than normal price
28. Inflation can be controlled by :
(A) Increase in wages
(B) Decreases in taxation
(C) Reductin in public expenditure
(D) Making the rupee dearer
29. which one of the following statements is true about red soil >
(A) It is rich in humus.
(B) It is rich in potash
(C) It is rich in iron compound—YES
(D) It is derived from volcanic origin.
30. Gun metal is an alloy of
(A) Copper, Tin and Zinc—YES
(B) Aluminium, Tin and Steel
(C) Copper, Steel and Zinc
(D) Aluminium, Tin and Zinc
31. If the electrical resistance of a typical substance suddenly drops to zero, then the substance is called
(A) Semicounductor
(B) Conductor
(C) Superconductor—YES
(D) Super Semiconductor
32. The material used for electrical fuse is an alloy of tina and lead. This alloy should have :
(A) High specific resistance and low melting point—YES
(B) Low specific resistance and high melting point
(C) Low specific resistance and low melting point
(D) High Specific resistance and high melting point
33. The word FTP stands for :
(A) File transit Provision
(B) File translate protocol
(C) File transfer provision
(D) File Transfer Protocol—YES
34. RAM Stands for :
(A) Random Access Memory—YES
(B) Read Access Memory
Ā© Random Attribute Memory
(D) Random Applicable Memory
35. Which os the following is also known as brain of computer ?
(A) Monitor
(B) Arithemetic Logic Unit(ALU)
Ā© Control Unit
(D) Central Processing Unit(CPU)—YES
36. A technique in which data is written to two duplicate disks simultaneously, is called :
(A) Mirroring
(B) Multiplexing
Ā© Duplicating
(D) Copying
37. CAD stands for :
(A) Computer Aided Design—YES
(B) Computer Application in Design
(C) Coded Algorithm in Design
(D) Coded Addressable Design
38. Which one of the following sets of industries were among first modern industries in India?
(A) Tea , Cotton and Sugar
(B) Jute, Silk and Cotton
(C) Cotton , Jute and Coal-Mines—YES
(D) Sugar, Silk and Steel
39. The regional project by name ‘CASA-1000′(Central Asia-South Asia 1000), funded by World Bank, pertains to the field of :
(A) Eradication of HIV AIDS
(B) Roads and Buildings
(C) Electricity—YES
(D) Eradication of illiteracy
40. Who won the Golden Boot Award in the recently conducted UEFA Euro 2012?
(A) Ferando Torres (Spain)—YES
(B) Mario Balotelli (Itlay)
(C) Cristiano Ronaldo (portugal)
(D) Mario Gomez (Germany)
Hello Tyagi… refer to your question No. 04 above. :- It is talking about EXPANSIONIST meausure. It means there will be more money in the market, for which RBI will release more money which will happen when it buy security not sell it. so your answer created a doubt. If even you think that you are right… please clarify it.
correction for Q2 NABARD – national bank for agriculture and rural developement.
4th five yr plan was launched in 1969-1974….due 2 external problem(pakistan war) 4th five yr plan was delayed…1966-69 annual plan..so if garibi hatao was in 1971,dat means it was part of 4th 5yr plan….
Hi Mrunal,
I am not sure whether you have made this website or not, but if yes, can you put the “Date” and “Time” on the comments section? So that, we can understand the comments and articles on a real-time basis.
Thanks!
PS – Amazing site man!
explain the salient features of mines act