New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) The commerce ministry closed downits nearly 100-year-old public procurement arm -- theDirectorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) -- onOctober 31, a senior official said.
The closure of the DGS&D, which traces its origin toLondon during the British raj, follows setting up of thegovernment e-market (GeM) platform last year for publicprocurement of goods and services.
"We closed all the operations of the directorate onOctober 31. It was replaced with a much transparent GeMplatform," the ministry official said.
About 1,100 of its employees are being shifted todifferent departments, including income tax, while the seniorofficers are likely to be accommodated in other branches ofthe government.
DGS&D assets, which were present across the country,are transfered to the Land and Development Office of the urbandevelopment ministry.
The directorate has four regional offices, includingMumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. It has 12 Purchase Directorates(Commodity-wise) at its headquarters here. Besides, there are20 offices/sub-centres and the staff strength is over 1,200.
The DGS&D has its origins in the India Stores Department,which was established in 1860 in London by the British forcentralised purchase of goods for India.
Last year, the GeM was launched by the ministry to bringin greater transparency and efficiency in public procurement.
The GeM portal has eliminated human interface in vendorregistration, order placement and payment processing to agreat extent.
Central and state governments procure goods and servicesworth over Rs 5 lakh crore annually. PTI RRARD.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.