Consulting Organisations Encouraged to Support Digital India Programme by National e-Governance Division

The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) has announced a comprehensive Request for Empanelment (RFE) inviting consulting organizations to join hands to drive the transformative Digital India programme.

RFE sheds light on the overall vision of the Digital India program, which aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. It covers various government services available through multiple channels such as online, mobile and service points. Needless to say, the Digital India initiative covers a host of programs including Aadhaar, DigiLocker, UMANG, API Setu, UPI, CoWIN, Direct Benefit Transfer, DIKSHA, Poshan Tracker and PM Gati Shakti.

As stated in the RFE document dated December 21, NeGD is seeking applications from consulting organizations called “agencies” to participate in the Digital India programme. Points to note about the RFE include:

• Potential bidders are encouraged to submit a single application and follow specific application instructions, including submitting bids online through the Central Public Procurement Portal. Detailed information about the services offered is described in the scope of work of the document.
• A pre-bid meeting will be held in NeGD’s meeting room, after which the shortlisted agencies will be invited to present their proposals to the evaluation committee. The selection process and subsequent evaluation of high-performing agencies is done based on defined criteria.
• Key dates for submission of tenders, including hard copies and deadlines, are specified in the document. NeGD emphasizes compliance with these schedules.
• Agencies must meet both pre-qualification and technical qualification requirements. Compliance with all conditions is emphasized, including a thorough examination of the document, meeting the criteria and having each page of the proposal signed by an authorized signatory.
• NeGD has clarified that it reserves the right to reject any or all responses to the RFE without assigning reasons and has disclaimed responsibility for any delay or non-receipt of responses. Interested bidders have been advised to contact the designated NeGD officials for clarifications before the scheduled schedule.

As suggested in the document, the primary objective of this RFE is to address the growing demand for the design, development and implementation of Digital India initiatives with the India Digital Ecosystem Architecture (InDEA). Empaneled organizations are expected to identify new initiatives, provide consulting services and manage projects according to established architectures and digital service standards.

The RFE document will be published on the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPP Portal), which is why soft copies of tenders must be submitted electronically using valid digital signature certificates. Bidders are guided through the registration process and given instructions for submitting to the online service.