Indian producers face several challenges to secure their household’s income, food provision while making an important economic contribution for the country. And one reason for the rising farm distress is crop failures and yield losses triggered by the vagaries of climate. The livelihood of a large proportion of India’s population—as the largest private enterprise with ~138 million farm families with an 18% contribution to national GDP—is at risk. Any shock on agricultural production already has social and financial repercussions for both the population and the country as a whole; it impacts rural income levels, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and, in the worst years, poverty rates.
The Government of India’s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), compensates farmers for any crop losses. The scheme insures farmers against a wide range of external risks — droughts, dry spells, floods, inundation, pests and diseases, landslides, natural fire and lightning, hailstorms, cyclones, typhoons, tempests, hurricanes and tornadoes. While the idea of insuring farmers against crop losses isn’t new, the PMFBY is an attempt to plug the gaps in the previous crop insurance schemes — the National Agriculture Insurance scheme (NAIS) introduced in 1999 and the Modified NAIS (mNAIS) introduced in 2011.
The scheme came into operation from 1 April 2016 with a Central government budget allocation of Rs 5,500 crore for 2016–17. Further, the Central government plans to bring 40 per cent of agricultural area under PMFBY in 2017–18 and, accordingly, a provision of about Rs 9,000 crore has been made in the 2017–18 budget.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana promotes sustainable agriculture production through – i) financial support to farmers against crop losses due to climactic or external shocks ii) securing incomes iii) improved, modern and innovative farming practices for better yield iv) enhancing credit availability in the agricultural sector.
The Country Programme Document (2018-2022) of United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) approved by the Government of India has defined one of its foremost programme priorities and outcomes as “Institutional and systems strengthening for service delivery” as the single most innovations to achieve last mile developmental impact. UNDP will leverage its expertise in systems strengthening to support the Ministry of Agriculture to set up a Technical Support Unit for the implementation of PMFBY, to improve institutional and programme responsiveness, increase coverage and better access among the marginalised and excluded farm households offering innovative measures for risk management and reduced crop loss for the rural population in India. The TSU will strongly focus on providing Capacity Building and Training support to the participating state-level government departments involved in PMFBY and advancing the scheme among new states for improved uptake.
Under this partnership, UNDP wishes to hire the services of an Procurement Specialist to perform the duties below.
Summary of Key Functions:
As the Procurement Specialist, the person will be responsible for supporting the NPC-TSU in the Procurement Specialist supervises the TSU Procurement Unit, responsible for effective delivery of procurement services in order to obtain the best value for money. The Procurement Specialist will collaborate closely with project associate UNDP, the project admin focal point for all requisite submissions to be made to UNDP on a regular basis.
Organization: GoI- UNDP project with Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) : “Technical Support Unit for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana”
Supervisor : National Programme Coordinator – Technical Support Unit
Duty Station: New Delhi, post location in Ministry – MOA&FW
- Full compliance of procurement activities with Government of India and UN/UNDP rules, regulations, policies and strategies; implementation of the effective internal control, proper design and functioning of a client-oriented procurement management system.
- TSU Procurement business processes mapping and elaboration/establishment of internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in Procurement, control of the workflows in the Procurement procurement;
- Analysis of requirements and synthesis of proposals for cost saving and reduction strategiesl;
- Synthesis of proposals/bids and implementation of contract strategy in the TSU including tendering processes and evaluation, contractor appraisal, managing the contract and contractor, legal considerations and payment conditions, risk assessment.
- Implementation of procurement in the TSU including sourcing, supplier selection and evaluation, quality management, customer relationship management, e-procurement and promotion, performance measurement.
- Elaboration and implementation of the internal control system which ensures that Purchase Orders (PO) are duly prepared and dispatched. Timely corrective actions on POs with budget check errors and other problems
- Timely and duly preparation of procurement plans for the TSU and monitoring of their implementation of secured contracts.
- Implementation of proper monitoring and control of procurement processes including organization of RFQ, ITB or RFP, receipt of quotations, bids or proposals, their evaluation, negotiation of certain conditions of contracts in full compliance with Government of India and UNDP rules and regulation.
- Review and certification of submissions to the Contract, Asset and Procurement Committee (CAP) and Advisory Committee on Procurement (ACP).
- Management of procurement contracts and, upon delegation of responsibility, performing the functions of Manager Level 1 in Atlas for Purchase orders approval.
- Implementation of the internal control system which ensures that Purchase orders are duly prepared and dispatched. Timely corrective actions on POs with budget check errors and other problems.
- Preparation of cost-recovery bills in Atlas for procurement services provided by UNDP to other Agencies.
- Implementation of harmonized procurement services, analysis of requirements and elaboration of proposals on common services expansion in the UN House, introduction of joint procurement for the UN Agencies in line with the UN reform.
- Development and management of the rosters of suppliers, elaboration of supplier selection and evaluation, quality and performance measurement mechanisms.
- Management of e-procurement module.
- Liaise relevant government agencies and all project partners for effective coordination of all project inputs;
- Provide technical backstopping for inputs for training activities supported by the Project;
- Provide timely inputs for the timely submission of all progress reports as may be required by UNDP, the Ministry of Agriculture;
- Foster partnerships with key national and state government departments.
- Support the TSU team for successful achievement of the project objectives;
- Perform any other tasks consistent with the level of the post and/ or assigned by the Reporting Officer; NPC – TSU; Joint Secretary, DoAC&FW, MoA&FW.
- Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
- Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the organisation
- Sound knowledge and experience in the field procurement services with capacity to function independently with minimum supervision;
- Sound knowledge of the legal and regulatory environment ;
- Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and requirements of the post with excellence;
- Possesses the capacity for strategic planning, result – based management and reporting;
- Good communication skills
- Tailors and presents information to diverse audiences using a variety of communication delivery methods (e.g., written, electronic, oral, interpersonal) Documentation
- Good interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;
- Demonstrated skills connecting with a wide range of stakeholders and vendors etc.,
- Ability to participate and contribute consultative meetings at national and state level with partners and senior stakeholders to identify priorities and manage the timely delivery of project activities.
- Reliable in delivering own parts of the work as part of a team effort
- Demonstrates excellent work/project planning skills;
- Is open to change and ability to manage complex, ever-changing environments;
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Finance, Commerce, Economics or related field.
- Master’s Degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Public Administration, Finance, Economics or related field.
- Recognised procurement certification and/or qualification desirable.
- Atleast 5-6 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in procurement management;
- Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and advance knowledge of web based management systems.
- Excellent oral and writing skills in English and Hindi
Important applicant information
All posts in the SC categories are subject to local recruitment.
Applicant information about UNDP rosters
Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.
Workforce diversity
UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.
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Contract Duration: One Year (Renewable)