Public Procurement in Bangladesh Roads & Highways

A modern public procurement system requires high standards of transparency and accountability in order to serve public interests. This requires a minimum standard of meeting people's expectations in the conduct of public affair. Public Procurement (PP) is an important area of public sector activity in all countries of the world both developed and developing alike. With the bulk responsibilities of procurement activities, Roads and Highways Department, under the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges in the Government of Bangladesh, shoulders a vast task and plays a vital role in socio-economic development of the country. The principal motto of this Department is to help assist improvement of the country's communication system through formulating policies regarding construction of roads and facilitating development, expansion and maintenance of integrated roads transportation. The current research critically examines the actual practices of transparency and accountability in public procurement in Roads and Highways of Bangladesh. The investigation also covers the elements of effective governance, in which transparency and accountability are equally important as parameters.