Documenting Proprietary Software Tenders in Govt Services

Policy
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MeitY passed the “Policy on Adoption of Open Source Software for Government of India” in 2015 which mandated all software applications and services of the government to be built using OSS. However, government services continue to float tenders for proprietary software, even where numerous OSS solutions are available and widely used. For ex, this year the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) floated a tender to procure proprietary Microsoft products, including Microsoft’s SQL server.

@rahulporuri and I discussed how we need to continuously monitor such tenders and failures to implement FOSS policies + produce a repository documenting the same. The next steps would be to then raise public awareness (such as through op-eds) and work to amend these lapses.

This topic is meant to:

  • Seek inputs on how best we can document our findings
  • Seek volunteers
  • Get other comments/feedback on how we can take this forward
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Notes from discussion on "Policy on Adoption of OSS for Govt. of India"
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Embarrassingly this is my department. Let me figure out the backstory behind the tender and get back.

Also interested in this! Have some ideas - had discussed with @rahulporuri.

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Hi @hnisar!

We’ve published FOSS United’s Tech Policy strategy for 2025, and the first project is on documenting proprietary software tenders. Would love to discuss how to take this forward.

Fyi, the strategy: FOSS United Tech Policy Strategy 2025

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MeitY passed the “Policy on Adoption of Open Source Software for Government of India” in 2015 which mandated all software applications and services of the government to be built using OSS.

Minor correction -

Government of India shall endeavour to adopt Open Source Software in all e-Governance systems implemented by various Government organizations, as a preferred option in comparison to Closed Source Software (CSS).

I recently found out that this is in fact a “FOSS preference policy” stating that " all things being equal, preference will be given to FOSS.". This is tricky, compliance is mandatory but implementation is preferential :smile:

I wonder what fraction of these proprietary tenders is because of a lack of awareness amongst government officials and vendors fooling them into opting in to proprietary software by presenting it as a better solution. @hnisar told us about one such instance during IndiaFOSS last year.

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Reviving this thread with the CBSE On-Screen Marking system fiasco going on. I feel there should be a FOSS-U comment on it. Happy to volunteer.

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Bumping this up with a request for comments on this article on government procurement of IT systems.

I found it strange that they don’t mention the MEITY FOSS policy at all and only have a passing mention of Digital Public Infrastructure.

https://odi.org/en/insights/better-procurement-for-government-it-systems-navigating-the-incomplete-contract-problem/

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The High-Powered Task Force (HPTF), constituted to examine and recommend reforms relating to the conduct, security, design and governance of public examinations, is inviting ideas and feedback.

https://examreforms-taskforce.dopt.gov.in

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Since the examination issue is a particularly hot topic right now, instead of trying to influence government software procurement policies in the abstract, this could be an opportunity to make the case for FOSS procurement specifically in the context of public examinations. This is an important policy window because it offers a good opportunity to reach a wider audience and explain the benefits of FOSS procurement.

The committee’s recommendations will most probably include some DPI interventions. Given the broad definition of DPI and the issues associated with it, this could also be a good opportunity to push for stronger and more meaningful openness.

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