- Two-day state-level training workshop on Electronic Procurement System inaugurated
- New Government Initiatives to Strengthen Digital Governance
A two-day training workshop on the electronic procurement system developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) was inaugurated at the New Circuit House in Civil Lines, capital Raipur. Organized under the joint aegis of CHIPS and NIC, this workshop aims to provide training on the new procurement system to all departments of the state to increase transparency and efficiency in government procurement. On the first day of the workshop, nodal officers from 50 departments, including the Public Welfare Department, Public Health Engineering, Water Resources Department, Housing Department, Tourism Department, participated. They will be trained by a five-member team from NIC New Delhi, led by Mrs. Usha Saxena, Deputy Director General.
Inaugurating the workshop, Mr. Prabhat Malik, Chief Executive Officer of CHIPS, stated that the current e-procurement system has been in operation for ten years. The migration from the current procurement system to the new Gepnik Procurement System developed by NIC is a new and powerful beginning for the state. Mr. Malik encouraged officials from various departments present at the training workshop to contribute to strengthening digital governance through the Gepnik Procurement System.
In her address, Mrs. Usha Saxena, Deputy Director General and Head of the e-Procurement Group at the National Informatics Centre, New Delhi, who was training nodal officers involved in procurement for various state departments on the new system, cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital Governance Policy and stated that the most important elements of tendering are transparency, efficiency, and equity, meaning equal opportunities for all in the tender process. NIC’s Zepnik Procurement System meets all these essential standards. Ms. Usha Saxena stated that 5,000-6,000 tenders are being handled daily through the Zepnik Procurement System. The second session of this state-level training workshop will cover government policies, best practices, and software features related to e-procurement.
In his welcome address, Mr. T.N. Singh, Chhattisgarh State Informatics Officer, stated that the Zepnik Procurement System is a new step towards e-governance, offering a comprehensive e-procurement system. This scalable system has been restructured and customized to suit the state’s needs. Equipped with various security features, the system covers all governance needs and challenges.
It is noteworthy that the Jepnik e-Procurement System is a central e-procurement system developed for government procurement, to which 31 states and union territories of the country are connected. In this workshop, for two days, various features related to the new e-procurement system including digital signature certification, configurable functionality, e-auction, tender preparation, price bid were discussed in detail. Along with this, e-procurement best practices will be explained through case studies of Indian Oil Corporation, Military Engineering Service, Metro Rail etc. Also, during the question-answer session on Jepnik Procurement System, the queries of the officers present were resolved.
The workshop was attended by Chief Executive Officer of CHIPS, Mr. Prabhat Malik, along with Mr. P. Rama Rao, Joint Chief Executive Officer of NIC, CHIPS, Mr. Anupam Ashish Toppo, SEMT Head Mr. Ashish Jaiswal, along with more than 130 nodal officers from more than 50 departments including Public Welfare Department, Public Health Engineering, Water Resources Department, Housing Department, Tourism Department etc.