New Delhi: Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) VK Saxena has mandated an "integrity pact" between the Delhi government and a vendor in all contracts exceeding Rs 10 crore in an effort to ensure transparency in government projects. According to Raj Niwas officials, independent external monitors will be appointed to check the execution of such contract.
To ensure full compliance, they added, the threshold for the integrity pact, which Delhi's departments and agencies began to implement in 2017, was reduced from Rs 50 crore to Rs 10 crore. The integrity pact will be in effect with respect to a specific contract from the time it is signed by both parties until the end of the contract.
In a note to the chief secretary of Delhi, the L-G outlined fresh guidelines regarding the adoption of the integrity pact and appointment of external monitors in every project and procurement above Rs 10 crore should be adhered to in letter and spirit.
"All government projects and procurement exceeding Rs 10 crore will necessitate the integrity pact. Violation of the pact by bidders will lead to disqualification and other penal actions," an official said.
Guidelines about integrity pact
Under the integrity pact, both parties (government and contractors) will commit not to resort to any corrupt practices at any stage of the contract. The external monitors will be selected from the panels of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), or the government organisation, the officials said.
The LG also underlined that though provisions for an integrity pact and appointment of external monitors were to be done way back in 2007 as per recommendations of the CVC, the departments and agencies in Delhi started to follow these guidelines from 2017.
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"He rued the fact that even after 2017, none of the bigger agencies like PWD and MCD adopted the procedure for integrity pact and external monitors, and those who did it stated that their projects and procurement were not covered under the Rs 50 crore threshold," another Raj Niwas official said.
Any violation of integrity pact would entail disqualification of the bidders and exclusion from future business dealings, as per the existing provisions of general financial rules, 2017, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and other financial rules and guidelines, the officials said.
(With PTI inputs)
