Karnataka govt to update tender portal for more accountability

The state government will tweak its e-Procurement platform making it a must for all departments to incorporate a feature that would track the progress of infrastructure works in real-time in order to plug pilferage of public money.

At a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma recently, it was decided that the New Gandhi Sakshi Kayaka (NGSK) system being used by the Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department should be extended to all other departments.

The NGSK, or GSK 2.0, uses GIS-based monitoring of public works, which authorities say can check skulduggery, especially fake work bills and duplication of projects.

The highlight of GSK 2.0 is the spatial mapping of a project at the proposal stage itself. For example, if there is a proposal to develop a road, then the stretch has to be first spatially captured using a mobile app by walking or driving along its path. Also, the GSK 2.0 mandates capturing the physical progress of each stage of work in real time and making payments to contractors online.

This will help authorities identify if the same road is proposed for redevelopment and check the menace of fake bills.

“The software was developed by the Centre for Smart Governance at the instance of the RDPR department,” Additional Chief Secretary (RDPR) L K Atheeq told DH. “It is learnt that the e-Governance department has now decided to integrate this module in e-Procurement software so that all departments implementing public works can start tracking works from planning stage to post contract management and final bill payment stage,” he said.

“Integration with GIS is a strong feature of this software,” Atheeq added.

The NGSK, or GSK 2.0, went live in July and is being used for works taken up by the Panchayat Raj Engineering Department (PRED), the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd (KRIDL) and Karnataka Rural Road Development Agency (KRRDA).

The decision to adopt a technology-based system to check misuse of public money comes at a time when the Bommai administration is battling corruption allegations.

Centre impressed

DH has reliably learnt that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has expressed interest in replicating the features of GSK 2.0 at the national level. Apparently, the ministry reached out to the state based on an August 16 DH story on the RDPR department rolling out GSK 2.0. “We have given the ministry a presentation on GSK 2.0,” an official said.