Public procurement affects virtually all aspects of our lives—health, education, economic opportunities, and quality of life. About a third of government budget, or roughly $16 billion, is spent on public procurement. Of this, $13 billion is spent on the procurement of goods, works, and services for the implementation of development programs, approximately 70% of the country’s development budget. So, efficient, effective, and economical public procurement is instrumental in achieving our national development goals.
The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has initiated public procurement reform with the same aim. For the last two decades, the World Bank has been supporting the government’s attempts to modernise its procurement sector. The first set of reforms came through the Public Procurement Reform Project (PPRP), which aimed to streamline public procurement rules and regulations. The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) was established under the Ministry of Planning in 2002 to carry out and oversee the reforms.
Public procurement reform agenda, especially the aspect of social accountability, is extremely relevant to what BIGD does. BIGD managed to get an entry in this reform initiative in 2011, through PPRP-II, with a peripheral role—researching and conceptualising a model of social accountability in public procurement.
Since then, BIGD has been working relentlessly with CPTU to develop and test a model of participatory governance—in the form of citizen monitoring in public work projects—for improving public procurement performance.
PPRP II had four components:
BIGD was involved in the fourth component of the PPRP II. Our strategy was to find a viable social accountability model in the context of Bangladesh and garner buy-in from critical stakeholders for implementation.
First, we studied the existing social accountability models around the world and then we conducted a series of workshop with all important stakeholders—government, contractors, and citizens—to listen to their ideas and opinions about what may work, what are the possible entry points, etc. We combined our desk and field research to develop a strategy or model for citizen engagement in public work projects. Finally, we presented the strategy to the Public-Private Stakeholders Committee (PPSC), headed by the then Planning Mister. PPSC is a high-level committee, which was formed to guide the overall process of public procurement reform. The model was approved by PPSC for piloting—the first victory for BIGD.
Finally, in 2015, BIGD signed an agreement with CPTU, under PPRC II extended phase, to pilot the social accountability model, developed in the previous few years with an ultimate aim to develop and institutionalise a third-party monitoring system in the public procurement process in Bangladesh. The pilot intervention was implemented by a local partner in the field. The pilot was implemented in four upazilas.
During the pilot implementation, BIGD conducted extensive qualitative research to understand whether the model works, if so, to what extent, and what modifications are necessary to make it work better. Throughout the implementation, BIGD kept the relevant stakeholders informed about the experience and research findings.
The results of the pilot were encouraging and the government expressed interest to further test the model and chose BIGD to lead the effort in the Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP), which is a continuation of the government effort to improve public procurement performance and enhance capacity for implementation monitoring of development project at a larger scale. Equipped with the findings from the piloting in PPRC II, BIGD proposed several modifications to the model, which are now being implemented in 48 upazilas across Bangladesh.
In its first year, the intervention started in 16 upazilas and five contracts for monitoring per upazila. BIGD involved BRAC’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) for training local citizens to provide them with sufficient technical knowledge and engaged them in monitoring the development projects. By the end of the year, citizens monitored 80 contracts—mostly in groups but also individually. In 2020, the intervention will be scaled up in 48 upazilas.
We are conducting a large-scale randomized control trial (RCT) to generate rigorous evidence on whether the model works. Simultaneously, we are conducting an in-depth qualitative study to have a nuanced understanding of the socio-political and cultural dynamics that may have a bearing on the model’s success.
Alongside filed implementation, we have been engaging with stakeholders at the local level—through workshops at district and divisional headquarters—as well as at the national level—through active engagement with the PPSC—with a purpose to keep them informed about our findings in the field and maintain their enthusiasm about the model.
The result of the first year of intervention is positive. Citizens not only appreciated this bottom-up approach of monitoring, but also actively engaged in overseeing the construction work in their localities. Irregularities were instantly reported, and then verified by the designated field officer before relaying it to the procuring entities. There were instances of citizens returning trucks full of low-quality brick chips and detecting improper road base construction.
We are not even halfway through DIMAPPP, neither do we have any concrete evidence on the impact. But already the Honourable Minister of Planning has expressed his strong interest in scaling up the model of citizen engagement in public procurement throughout Bangladesh. There is also growing demand from the stakeholders—civil society, contractors, as well as government officials—to institutionalise the model expanding its usage as a means of promoting transparency, accountability, and efficiency in public procurement.
