Chief Minister Mayawati has stated that intelligence would keep a watch on government tendering to keep out Mafia elements and check irregularities. But her government has not shown much enthusiasm in pushing an e-tendering project conceived exactly for this purpose.

Under the National e-Governance Plan, e-tendering is an integral part of e-procurement.

The purpose of e-tendering was to end mafia influence from the tendering process, ensure transparency, check corruption by government officials and enable people to take part in the tender process fearlessly.

While e-tendering has taken off in states like Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat, there are only a handful of departments in the state which offer the facility.

Almost a year ago, the project was inaugurated by Chief Minister Mayawati and PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui with all fanfare. As per the Government of India guidelines, all departments should have been equipped with necessary elements for e-tendering by April 1, said a senior official of the IT and Electronics Department. “Maybe due to elections, the process has slowed down.”

On June 1, 2008, e-tendering was introduced on pilot basis in a few departments like the PWD and Irrigation, Medical and Health, Department of Printing and Publishing, Information Technology & Electronics and Directorate of Industries.

The pilot project was for four months, after which these departments were supposed to invite tenders electronically through e-tendering. But till date, it is only a few departments like Irrigation, Jal Nigam, Printing & Stationary and Directorate of Industries, where tendering is a centrally controlled process and which have started e-tendering in a full-fledged way.

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