Government to corporatise Central Public Works Department

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government has initiated a move to corporatise Central Public Works Department, its 162-year-old main construction arm.

The move comes after a group of secretaries, appointed by Modi on health, urban development and sanitation sectors made a recommendation to this effect, saying that this will help decentralise CPWD’s operations and improve its performance.

The urban development ministry, the nodal ministry for CPWD, has floated a request for proposal or RFP to study working and reorganisation of the department. The terms of reference include studying various aspects such as constituting CPWD as an autonomous central works board on the lines of Railway Board, separating the department’s maintenance functions and giving it to a not-for-profit company to be constituted as a subsidiary under the department.

The terms also include analysis of structure and organisation of CPWD, working of the department keeping in view its mandate and functions, and comparative analysis of other central government organisations in civil and electrical construction sectors.

“We are preparing groundwork for improved performance of the government’s main construction arm,” secretary (urban development) Rajiv Gauba told ET. “We don’t know what the study would recommend – it may just find out that CPWD is working well or it could recommend a few steps to improve efficiency. The final call has to be taken by the Cabinet. We are only conducting a study.”

This is the first attempt to improve the working of CPWD since it came into existence in 1854 when Lord Dalhousie established a central agency for execution of public works and set up Ajmer Provincial Division. CPWD builds and maintains public buildings in the country. It also fulfils India’s international commitments in public works.

The urban development ministry has in the past six months initiated measures to give more decision-making autonomy to CPWD. So far, the department has had to seek approval of secretary (urban development) even for transfers of superintending engineers. Now, however, more powers are being delegated to director-general of CPWD.

The move to corporatise CPWD has ruffled feathers within the organisation, with employees’ associations protesting what they have termed ‘privatisation’.