BITA unhappy with BEST regulation

Manisha K

Patna

March 18th, 2008

Bihar IT Associations (BITA) is not happy with the recent decision of the
Bihar e-governance services and technologies (BEST) (BEST is the regulatory
authority who takes care of tendering, IT procurement, assigning of work,
outsourcing the work of e-government and overall project monitoring). According
to their regulation only those partners whose turnover is more than Rs 30 crore
will get tenders.

The association has shown its displeasure regarding the new regulation.
According to Prabhat Kumar Sinha, Treasurer, BITA, Rs 30 crore is a big amount
and only few will be able to get the tender in Bihar. Hence all the orders will
be outsourced to other states. "It is a big hurdle for small entrepreneurs.
More than 90 percent of the people will be barred because of this restriction.
The government should remove these restrictions. Instead of encouraging the
small players, it is discouraging them," said Sinha.

He also accused the government of being ambiguous since it talks about the
upliftment of the local people and small entrepreneur while on the other gives
the distribution order to those whose turnover is more than Rs 30 crore.
Elaborating more on the issue, Sinha said that BITA is fighting for the rights
of the local traders and a letter has also been sent to the IT Secretary of the
state.

Apart from this, BITA is demanding more time from Nitish Kumar, CM, Bihar and
IT Secretary of the state. According to Sinha, the CM has a very hectic schedule
and hence is not able to devote time to IT sector.

Bihar IT branch was formed in 2007 and hence is still at a nascent stage. As
it is a new department, more innovation and attention needs to be given to it.
According to Sinha, after the creation of the IT division, the government has
sidelined this sector.

"We are happy with the CM's work but there is still lots to be done. The
CM should throw some light on his vision for the IT sector in Bihar. He does not
have enough time and even Navin Kumar, Principle Secretary-IT, Bihar, is not
able to dedicate enough time to the IT sector in Bihar. "The Principle
Secretary of IT is also in charge of finances of the state and he takes care of
finances of all divisions, hence it leaves him little time to really take care
of IT sector," he stated. On being asked about the solution to rectify it,
Sinha said that a person should be appointed in charge of IT exclusively.
"What we would suggest is that government appoint a minister who is tech
savvy and will be able to dedicate full time to this sector," he said.

Showing his discontentment over Bihar infrastructure, Sinha said that
infrastructure of Bihar is not up to the mark. "The main reason why Bihar
is lagging behind other states is the lack of infrastructure. People are coming
to Bihar, which is a good sign but we do not have enough hotels to accommodate
them," he stated.