What is Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) ?
Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) is the central purchasing department of Indian Government. It is responsible for buying materials from authorized suppliers and distributing them to various government and other quasi governmental organisations such as railways, defence, postal department, etc., which are also referred to as indenting organisations.
As Central Purchase & Quality Assurance Organisation of Government of India, Department of Supply. Ministry of Commerce; DGS&D was formulated in 1951. It was gradually and strongly supported by five year plans thereby expanding its scope, range and capacity along with the magnitude of its purchasing power. Presently, DGS&D is the biggest purchaser of the goods in India. Along with other features, the standardization of buying process is one of its features for the purpose of putting forward tenders and contracts. Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals usually adopts an ambling approach as it needs to ensure its transparency and accountability towards the Parliament and public at large. The assessment and quality assurance facilities are also provided to other governmental organisations by its inspection branch.
Since, DGS&D's activities are accountable to the Parliament; any import proposal has to be carefully checked by DGS&D. The idea behind it is to prevent importing of goods when equally good materials exist within the nation. Any firm which deals with the stores undertaken by DGS&D can register with DGS&D, irrespective of being a national or international organisation. The supplier organisation simply has to give an application during registration whose information will be thereafter scrutinized by DGS&D.
Organisation Structure of Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D)
It is vital that the organisational structure of DGS&D should be rational in order to handle bulk and diversified actions. The organisational structure of Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) is depicted by the figure.
Following are the different roles played by its wings :
1) Role of Procurement and Supplies Wing :
This wing is responsible for receiving and accepting the needs of goods from different departments such as defence, railways, public sector undertaking, etc. It is also involved in putting forward tenders, obtaining and assessing quotations, choosing suppliers, placing the orders and making arrangements for suppliers. There are ten purchase directorates, with a Director in each; in the supply wing which itself is a premier wing. These directorates are :
- Mechanical Engineering Stores Directorate,
- Railway Stores Directorate,
- Workshop Machines and Tools Directorate,
- Electrical Stores Directorate,
- Oils, Paints and Chemicals Directorate,
- Timber, Wool and Leather Directorate,
- Project Directorate,
- Vehicle Directorate,
- Civil Armament Directorate,
- Miscellaneous and Hardware Directorate.
The regional offices of these directorates are situated in Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Kanpur. Moreover, there is a regional office in Mumbai which is exclusively meant for textiles. Besides these, there are two offices in Washington D.C. and London, which are known as India supply Mission. The international buying is specifically done from the headquarters, which is located in Delhi.
2) Inspection Wing :
The task of the inspection wing is to determine that the goods of the suppliers are in compliance with the specific needs of the indentors. It also undertakes an in process quality control. The technical advice is also given by the wing to the indentors. The inspection wing is spread over entire India, with its branches in 35 places including New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Jamshedpur, etc.
3) Progress Wing :
The progress wing is engaged in the inspection of the progress of overall contracts, and finding out the reason for any sort of delay, if exists. Following are the three divisions of progress wing :
- General
- Railways
- Defence
Several meetings for observation are done dynamically for ensuring timely and correct supply of goods; and for resolving any sort of obstructions.
4) Disposal Wing :
It is liable for the disposal of the surplus materials offered to them by departments of Central Government (excluding Railways). excise departments, customs departments, State governments, etc. The disposal amount in a year goes up to 50 crore.
5) Planning and Development Wing :
The primary tasks undertaken by this wing are as follows :
- To receive and make groups of indents with similar goods.
- To develop specifications of goods along with their flexibility.
- To explore new suppliers and assess their abilities.
- To support local production of imported goods.
- To achieve long-term contracts for rare goods.
- To promote and encourage cottage and small scale industries.
6) O&M Division and Coordination Activity :
This wing is responsible for coordination activities like explaining and simplifying the policies and processes given by the Directorate. Organisation and Methods (O&M) means formulating various effective ways for synergising the entire organisation.
Role & Functions of Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D)
The various roles and functions of DGS&D are as follows :
1) One of the centralized functions of DGS&D is quality assurance. It continues as the Nodal Agency of Indian Government responsible for setting purchase policy and procedures. Government Departments/Organisations which have not acquired funds for purchasing can obtain it from DGS&D on ad-hoc basis by making due requests.
2) Managing acquisition of funds from various projects supported by World Bank and Asian Development for the purpose of modernizing the vocational training centers, polytechnics & national aids control; and also for National/ State highway project, hydrology project, etc.
3) Constant availability of services to Public Sector and Private sector enterprises.
4) Its quality assurance wing provides extensive technical services including the designing of need based acquisition details, development/assessment of the suppliers, quality control assurance.
5) Providing cargo clearance services at the chief ports of India.
6) The staff members are competent Engineers employed through Indian Engineering Service Examination conducted by UPSC, Government of India.
7) DGS&D services can be availed by State Governments, autonomous bodies, Public Undertakings, Quasi Public Bodies, etc. However, their orders should be supplemented by depositing an amount which would cover the price of the store. This deposition can be made through a demand draft or a crossed cheque drawn on State Bank of India/Reserve Bank of India and properly stamped as 'On Government Account Only' and drawn in favor of Chief Controller of Accounts, Department of Supply, New Delhi.
8) The consultancy services of DGS&D are available to the organisations that want to avail R/C prices and are interested in finalization of tender documents for obtaining assistance and quality assurance.
9) Maintaining data bank on suppliers' rate contracts for the arrangement of clothing supplies, tentage commodities, etc., in order to handle emergency needs at the time of any natural disaster.
10) Providing training facilities in the field of Quality & Purchase management.
Advantages of Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D)
The main advantages of associating with DGS&D are listed as below :
1) To Suppliers :
- Registering with DGS&D is considered to be highly reputed by all Government Organisations/ Divisions.
- Grant of rate contract provides name and fame.
- Not much marketing effort is needed.
- Purchase policy and procedures are steady & standardized.
- The technical guidance is readily available for improving the production procedures and quality of goods.
- Uniformity in the quality helps in standardization of the products.
2) To Buyers :
- The provision of buying in bulk at economical prices.
- Provision of providing the goods immediately when needed.
- Helps in saving from the tedious process of filling the tenders again and again.
- Timely supply of goods helps in better inventory management.
- Standardized goods are readily available with complete quality assurance.
Registration with Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D)
The process of registration with DGS&D enables an organisation to get registered as an official supplier of the procurement programme of DGS&D. The suppliers are registered with DGS&D for some particular commodities, after due verification of their technical abilities, fiscal soundness and dependability as a supplier. This registration is considered to be a standardized process by other procurement agencies operating at the State as well as Central level. There are twenty registration centers spread across India for handling the registration, working through a single window disposal.
The field executives of DGS&D identify those organisations which are equipped with requisite resources, area and infrastructure, and are given approval as a supplier, based on their evident abilities. The organisations that are proved to be highly competent are often assigned running projects as an assurance of placing further contracts with them. There is no need for them to show elaborate records. Usually, the officers of DGS&D identify the large firms or those which have huge stock of imported products or the stores of local commodities, such as timber, textiles, etc. For this purpose, the various aspects of the vendor rating like prices, punctuality, quality assurance and dependability are thoroughly judged. Following are the benefits enjoyed by the organisations which have registered with DGS&D :
1) When intendors raise specific demands, the registered suppliers are notified about it.
2) Running contracts and rate contracts are assigned only to the registered suppliers.
3) Majority of high priority demands are kept specifically for the approved suppliers.
4) The certified suppliers need not submit security amount. State Government and public sector organisation can also offer this flexibility to the certified suppliers.
5) Suppliers registered with DGS&D are able to attain great reputation among the business associates.
6) The goodwill in the market enables the registered suppliers to become eligible for the closed tender inquiry, instead of the sluggish and tiresome process of open tendering.
7) Some organisations are blacklisted and are eliminated from the list of the approved firm, in case :
- The organisations are accused of indulging in unfair means, like, corruption, black listing, etc.
- In case the organisation fails to follow righteous means of dealing.
- In case the organisation defies the obligations of the government without giving reasonable explanations.
Different Categories of Registration Local Items :
- Indian Producer/ Converters/Assembler.
- Authorized Dealer/Suppliers of Approved Indigenous Manufacturers.
- Stockists of some specific local stores.
Imported Items :
- Foreign Producer with or without Indian Agents.
- Stockists of imported stores.
- Suppliers of imported stores.
Procedures for Obtaining Contract from Railways, Defence, P&T
The procedure for the procurement of goods and services by the government is not a simple as it should confirm with the set guidelines.
For example, for procuring a pre-fabricated material for construction n of housing project, a governmental organisation followed the following steps: viz., an advertisement for inviting proposal from well known and proficient construction agencies that utilize "prefab technology for building construction, and which is recognized by DGS&D for having a rate contract" was published. The details regarding the contract were floated on the website of the firm. It was also mentioned that the work would be suitably rewarded through the process of competitive national bidding, involving the steps which are as follows :
- Announcement of request for a pre-qualification proposal.
- Shortlisting and selecting of the bidders.
- Assessment of commercial and technical bids of the selected bidders.
It was also specified that the assessment of technical bids, would be followed by that of the commercial bids; after the pre-specified technical competence. The rate contract of DGS&D would be offered only to the most competent organisation after assessment of their pre-qualification offer.
At times, big government projects put forward "global tenders", which invite the bidding from both national as well as global market. For example, the process of procuring arms and ammunition for defence purposes, which is complicated process. Generally, these processes are time consuming and can take even several years in some cases, followed by various negotiation rounds. The complication of these processes is further raised when they are discussed in the state legislative assemblies and parliament, bringing them in the vigilant eyes of the public at large.
Despite these reforms, several organisations dealing with government have not employed market orientation due to many reasons. Though, a few have followed the dealings of the governmental departments and have set-up separate departments for this purpose. Several organisations dealing with the government marketing are in a position to foresee the upcoming governmental ventures and demands; and can undergo product specification stage and acquire competence; and prepare bids with great caution. Such organisations are in a position to effectively specify the required goods and hence can also work on improving their goodwill in the market.