New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday advocated a procurement law to check wrongdoings by officials in public procurement.

“I believe parliament needs to take a view soon on whether we need a procurement law and, if so, what shape it should take,” Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha, presenting the union budget for the fiscal 2015-16.
Asserting that his government has been putting the scam, scandal and corruption behind, the finance minister favoured an institutional structure that is consistent with the law on international commercial arbitration adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law in 1985.
In view of disputes in public contracts, taking long to resolve despite a costly process, the government proposes to introduce a public contract (resolution of disputes) bill to streamline the institutional arrangements.
“There is a need to tackle lack of common approach in the regulatory arrangements within the different sectors of infrastructure,” Jaitley said.
The government also proposes to introduce a regulatory reform to bring in a cogency of approach across sectors of infrastructure.

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