Central Vigilance Commission withdraws all its guidelines on public procurement as Centre issues fresh manuals

The CVC has been issuing various guidelines on public procurement from time to time, and so far, 72 circulars containing issue-specific guidelines had been issued, it said.

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has withdrawn all its past guidelines on public procurement procedures after the Centre issued fresh manuals on it, officials said on July 6.

The move is aimed at having a single authoritative source of reference as procurement executives had complained of problems over the presence of guidelines by multiple organisations in this regard, they said citing an official communique.

The CVC has been issuing various guidelines on public procurement from time to time, and so far, 72 circulars containing issue-specific guidelines had been issued, it said.

Apart from the guidelines issued by CVC, the Department of Expenditure (DoE), Government of India, has also been issuing guidelines on public procurement, including manuals on procurement of goods, works and consultancy and other services, the notice issued by the probity watchdog said.

On other occasions, various other organisations such as NITI Aayog and the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade have also issued guidelines on public procurement, it said.

"CVC after deliberations with DoE and within the organisations has come to the logical conclusion that it would only be appropriate if public procurement guidelines are issued from D/o Expenditure," the notice said.

Due to multiple organisations issuing guidelines, procurement executives were facing problems in having a single authoritative source of reference, it said.