SRINAGAR: The Federation of Chambers of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) has expressed concern over non-compliance of government orders by various departments regarding the procurement of 25% of their total annual procurement of goods or services from Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and has urged for strict action against violators of orders.
In a statement issued to the press, the FCIK regretted that a government circular issued under No: FD-Code/240/2022-02-1899 dated 24-02-2023 issued by the Finance Department Codes Division, which makes it mandatory upon all government departments and Public sector undertakings to earmark and procure a minimum of 25% of the total overall annual procurement of goods or services from MSMEs, besides earmarking 3% from within the 25% target for earmarking for micro and small enterprises owned by women, was openly being flouted.
The FCIK has informed that the violation was mainly being done by the engineering departments under the garb of “providing and fixing” affixed to the nomenclature of any industrial product in their NITs to convert its configuration to a so-called works contract. “In some cases where the engineering departments make it open for both MSMEs and the contractors, the work order is grabbed by the latter for having quoted lesser rates than a manufacturing unit,” said the spokesman of FCIK, surprised that “how was it possible that a contractor who ought to procure industrial goods from a manufacturing unit before their installation could win the very contract from the same manufacturing unit in a tendering competition”.
The FCIK has drawn attention to the government towards the use of untested, unauthentic, low-quality, and deviation in the use of material in many of these works contracts. “Whereas the power transformers, conductors, and other equipment manufactured by the local industry were subjected to multiple and rigorous testing before delivery, such a process was dormant in most of the works contracts,” said FCIK, adding that this paved the way for the installation of untested and substandard goods. It has also been observed that many contractors were using imported deodar-resembling timber against the specified deodar specie mentioned in the contracts, informed FCIK. “Such imported timber is far less in cost than Deodar, which is sold only by the J&K State Forest Corporation alone,” said FCIK, adding that “departments required to ascertain in the first instance that how could a contractor quote rates below the average sale price of JKSFC if he didn’t intend to deviate from specifications later”. FCIK had recently taken up the matter of the use of Rajasthani Kota stone in place of local devri stone tiles in the “smart city project” which amounted to brazen deviation from the specifications. All such quality issues could be taken care of only when these industrial goods were procured by industrial units, claimed FCIK.
FCIK has urged upon all Administrative departments to monitor that their subordinate offices adhere to the government instructions regarding earmarking and procurement of 25% of their annual requirements from MSMEs besides segregating industrial goods from works contracts. The Finance department has already established that a meager cost towards the installation of an industrial product could not change its nomenclature to a works contract, informed FCIK.
FCIK has invited the attention of Principal Secretary PWD and Chief Engineer R&B towards the NIT No: 05 of R&B/Khanabal/2023-24/E-Tendering/1035-44 dated 24-04-2023 issued by Executive Engineer, R&B Division, Khanabal for 16 various works and has sought their intervention in making the concerned to change the eligibility criteria for specified industrial related works to keep it restricted to registered MSMEs only.
