Strategic Procurement Builds Pillars of Good Governance in I/NGOs  

Good governance means the abidance by rules and regulations, adherence to policies, and the practice of transparency, accountability, and compliance with donor and government requirements. The existence of good governance plays a vital role in an organization’s development and the achievement of its mission, vision, and objectives. It is essential for I/NGOs to follow good governance practices to maintain internal harmony and integrity. Numerous I/NGOs, government offices, and corporate entities have faced collapse due to a lack of good governance.

The procurement refers to the end-to-end purchases of goods, work and services by organizations through abiding the compliance. Strategic Procurement is a comprehensive, systematic, continuous process of procuring goods, works and services in a way that adds value for money to the organization. It moves beyond the traditional method simply focusing on the lowest price and instead emphasizes building long-term relationships with suppliers to achieve value for money, better quality and less risky situations.

 Effective procurement is a litmus test for an organization’s overall governance health. The procurement is not just a back-office administrative task, but a core strategic function that actively builds and demonstrates the key pillars of good governance:

Transparency & Fairness

Strategic procurement urges to maintain the annual vendor enlistment in the organization. The practice of annual vendor enlistment promotes the competitive bidding process, equal opportunity, fairness & transparency. Annual vendors the major weapons which play vital role in fulfilling the organization’s requirements for goods/works/services.

Accountability & Compliances

Adhering to the donor compliances in each of the procurement activities. Abiding the different threshold and process require as per the threshold. Involvement, coordination and collaboration of donor representatives during the procurement committee meetings during the process initiated and bidding evaluation & awarding process makes the clear communication within the organization.

Integrity & Risk Mitigation

Procurement is interconnected with Safeguarding in the organization, Policies on anti-corruption, child protection, green operation and GEDSI are operationalized in the vendor selection and contract management. There is the fostering of strategic procurement training among the staff which helps to build their capacity.

Value for Money & Strategic Impact

Good governance isn’t just about the rules, but results. The various Frameworks agreement or Long term agreements (LTA), market research, procurement plans or annual consolidated demands (ACD) and market research secure the fair pricing and generate the value for money to the I/NGOs. Even while procuring the Personal protective sets (PPE) sets for 100 volunteers for the river clean up events, competitive bidding procedure was implemented for sourcing potential vendor for supply and delivery.

Documentation, compliance, and donor requirements are very strictly implemented in the development sector within its various project activities. The major compliance documents to complete the strategic procurement process are as follows: Need assessment and Budget check up and align with the annual procurement plans (APP); Raised the Purchase request (PR) and sign by authorized person; Procurement committee call (for process initiation); Publication of Request for Quotation (RFQ); Quotation distribution and collection; Procurement committee call (for evaluation and bid award) (CBA); Placement of Purchase order (PO)/Purchase agreement (PA) to the potential vendor; Goods received (GR); Payment to be made to the supplier (PDF) and Filing of documentation.

The presence of transparency and fairness, accountability and compliance, integrity and risk mitigation, as well as value for money and strategic impact, fuels good governance practices in I/NGOs, institutions, organizations, and government offices. These are core indicators that verify and ensure the reliability of their systems and work towards accountability and responsibility.

Strategic procurement helps tackle future risks, disputes, and uncertainties, speeding up the achievement of organizational goals. This leads to greater project impact, especially for marginalized groups, the vulnerable, children, women, and persons with disabilities in communities and nations. By enabling the delivery of quality education, materials, and empowerment to those in need, strategic procurement helps raise awareness, build capacity, and improve risk preparedness among beneficiaries.

Thus, strategic procurement strengthens good governance in I/NGOs, institutions, organizations, and government offices. This creates an enabling environment that enhances beneficiaries’ living standards and access to quality education.

The output and impact of good governance are not confined to organizational boundaries; they touch various lives and contribute to sustainable development.

 १९ फाल्गुन २०८२