The State of Tripura has been awarded for the best performance among North Eastern States in implementation of e-Procurement at a National Workshop on e-Procurement organized by the Union Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology last March 27, 2023 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy informed this in a press conference organized at the secretariat’s press conference hall yesterday. He informed that the state has been awarded by the Central Government in recognition of this remarkable work in various departments of the State Government in the last 5 years. In this case, the state is rewarded for completing the work within a specified time under Power Department’s Saubhagya Yojana. The state has also bagged the title of best performer in agriculture, panchayat self-empowerment. The Finance Minister said that various government departments are working transparently through e-procurement in the state. In this regard, he thanked the officials of the department starting from the secretary of the finance department. At the same time he thanked the Chief Minister of the state Professor (Dr) Manik Saha and former Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma.
In the press conference, the Finance Minister said that the state government has emphasized on transparency in administration. As part of that initiative, under “Delegation of Financial Rules of Tripura” the state government has made e-procurement mandatory for the purchase of goods and services above 25 thousand rupees. Highlighting the benefits of e-procurement, he said, e-procurement brings transparency in government sales and there is no opportunity for vendors to form alliances. E-procurement system helps small and medium industrialists in procurement. Vendors of govemment goods and services have no scope for tax evasion. All information of the bidders is kept confidential so that the actual bid can be determined. Vendors from any part of the country can participate in the e-procurement system besides reducing the cost of the govemment. The Finance Minister presented the number of tenders and orders through e-procurement and GEM and the amount of money involved in the last three fiscal years 2020-21 to 2022-23. He said that 9815 tenders have been made through e-procurement portal in the financial year 2022-23. The amount of money was 7271 crores mupees Also, 3095 orders have been placed through GEM as of December 2022 for FY 2022-23. The amount of money was 102 crore rupees. The total value of bidding and tendering through e-procurement and GEM in FY 2022-23 is 7373 crore rupees.
In the press conference, the Finance Minister informed that the success of the state government in implementing e-payment for all transactions except regular pension of retired government employees in the state of Tripura has been appreciated in the state finance audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India for the fiscal year 2021-22. He said that in the said report, 80.13 percent of the total transactions were done through e-payment. He said the CAG report also mentioned that all 64 controlling officers reconciled 100 per cent accounts of receipts and expenditure with AG (A&E). The State Goverment has managed the finances very well with prudence and more capital flows during the financial year 2022-23. Moreover, the financial benefits payable in various fields have increased. For example, financial benefits payable to employees, pensioners, DRWOS, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, part time workers, part time pump operators etc, have been increased. He informed that the total capital expenditure in the financial year 2022-23 was 2374 crore rupees which was 1423 crore rupees in the financial year 2021-22. He also presented the statistics of various own tax revenue collections of the state in the financial year 2022-23. Finance Secretary Brijesh Pandey and Additional Secretary Akinchan Sarkar were present during the press conference.