Editorial – August 2020

In this edition we bring two contrasting developments, both emanating from the government sector. While one, the BSNL story cleans up the procurement process, the other, the USOF story is a copy book of bad and turgid practices.

BSNL is in an advanced stage of scrapping most of the old APOs that were issued long ago and were not converted into purchase orders. Some of the products included in these would be moved for procurement from the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). This means that future requirements of these products will also be sourced from GeM.

In contrast, USOF’s top bureaucrat, Anshuli Arya has set in motion a process whereby common service centres (CSCs) are carting away GPON installed at Gram Panchayats to their personal destinations. So, CSCs, all of which are private bodies, are taking away equipment installed by government under BharatNet with public money, from government premises to their own locations, and this is authorized, supported and actively encouraged by the top government official in USOF. What use would be of the fiber deployed till GPs if the equipment is yanked away.

When red flags were raised over this by her juniors and subordinate officers, she shut them up with the logic of ‘not a usual procurement-based project but outcome-based services’, and even boasted of facilitating handover of equipment to CSCs and overriding BBNL’s objections.

What outcome is Ms Arya talking of? In which world is CSC-SPV living? It is totally out of touch with reality. Rs 8/GB is the prevalent tariff on a 4G network, CSC Choupal sells it for Rs 12.50. Almost all rural areas are covered by telecom operators. While R-Jio is an all 4G network, other operators are also migrating towards this status fast.

CSC-SPV is a private company which awards contracts, involving government money, only through nomination basis and firmly refuses an open tendering process, all this has Ms Arya’s abiding support. The procurement includes fiber, GPONs, ONTs, power supplies, and their laying / installation besides AMC. Under “outcome based” approach, the CSC would do everything including procurement & installation and AMC and inform the USOF the location where they have started providing services. For all this they get paid from USOF, however the yields from such installations are miniscule or non-existent.