Event: AIMA Session on launch of course – Professional Diploma in Public Procurement (PDPP)

Venue: AIMA Office, Lodhi Road

Attendee: Mr. Aritro Dasgupta, Faculty & Programme Manager

This session was organized by the All India Management Association (AIMA) to announce & discuss with some of the major stakeholders the launch of a new short term diploma on the subject of public procurement.  The course has been titled- Professional Diploma in Public Procurement (PDPP)- and has been designed in collaboration with the World Bank. The audience included members from the supply chain industry, government, funding agencies, procurement firms & academia.

The main speakers at the forum were:

• Raj Agrawa, Director AIMA-CME (Centre for Management Education)
• Professor Gurbandini Kaur, Programme Director- PDPP
• AK. Kalesh Kumar, Capacity Building Coordinator, Governance- Global Practice, The World Bank

The major reasons ascribed by the speakers for the development & introduction of the course are as follows:

• Professionalization of public procurement to aid supply chain industries, manufacturing concerns and food distribution systems.
• Reduction of bureaucratic hurdles in public procurement.
• Reducing wastage arising as a result of lack of proper coordination with transportation/storage facilities.
• Having in place clean systems for monitoring of procurement.

Some salient features of this course described are as follows:

• A short term 6 month course with online classes & frequent assignments / quizzes.
• A total of 6 compulsory courses & 5 optional courses from which 2 need to be availed are on offer for the students enrolling.
• The course can be merged along with some main course at college / university level.

The main speaker for the session was Mr. Kalesh Kumar who works with the World Bank. He spoke about the dire need for the professionalization of public procurement. He explained that students who undergo this course, can seek a career growth by which they eventually land up at some of the public procurement firms, both private as well as public. He even mentioned that there is a myth that private sector firms have little to do with public procurement, that this is a government domain. He stressed upon the fact that it is private players which supply at primary level to government bodies. Also it is private manufacturers & retailers which procure the final product from these same bodies. Thus it becomes pertinent for private players to understand the intricacies of public procurement. Mr. Kalesh Kumar then took the students through an illustration highlighting the progress which a professional qualified in this field may go through. The picture was pretty attractive for young students / professionals to think about.

Finally there was an open discussion with the audience. It was discussed how this course can be better integrated at university level within the norms of UGC rather than for colleges offering the AICTE approved PGDM. This session was followed by a High Tea where the audience, speakers & the organizers continued the discussions.