New '0-100 challenge method' may end govt patronage in awarding projects

The state that gets the highest score on a scale of 0-100 in this transparent rating system will get the project automatically

The government has reportedly accepted a suggestion from NITI Aayog to adopt a ‘challenge method’ for awarding projects to ensure they are fast-tracked and to cut down favoritism.

Under this system, all projects across different ministries and departments related to various sectors such as aviation, roads, railways, health, and education will be rated on more than a half-dozen parameters on a scale of zero-to-100. 

The state that gets the highest score in this transparent rating system will get the project automatically, while the central government ministry or department won’t have discretion in selecting the state or the area where the project will be located.

For example, if a railway line or an IIT needs to be awarded, all the states will be rated on certain parameters and the state that gets the maximum rating will get the project.

In a similar manner, the report said, the parameter and weight for setting up of AIIMS are — easy availability of land (20), utilities (15), the gap in tertiary healthcare facilities in the area (15) and financial contribution by states, among others.

Though it hasn’t been explicitly made clear, experts believe the parameters could also include items like infrastructure, availability of power and water. The criteria, thus, could be different from those accounted for awarding infrastructure projects. 

The method will also be used for awarding major national events like youth festivals and national games. 

The method is also expected to eliminate delays in execution and cut down the time gap between awarding the project and executing it.

Chairman of Feedback Infrastructure Vinayak Chatterjee said that adopting such a method will cut down government's patronage and will foster competitive federalism alongside cooperative federalism.

“States on their part should come forward and help the projects by giving free land and could also participate in equity in PPP projects while other things like tax breaks will be taken care by the GST,” Chatterjee told Business Standard.

He said in order to ensure on-time completion of projects, the states need to do the following:

First, state governments should provide free land, ensure infrastructure linkages

Second, state should commit to the time-bound execution of clearances and regulations required.

Third, it should facilitate the set-up of social linkages like affordable housing, schools, hospitals nearby and bear the cost for the same.

Fourth, it should take pro-active steps towards skill development, which would provide the project with a readily available skilled workforce.

Chatterjee said while awarding projects based on pre-determined parameters, it also needs to be understood whether the project falls in areas that lack proper security.

“This can be eliminated by limiting the number of states that can participate in such challenge for specific projects,” he said.