State scraps e-procurement procedure

Bidders for various government projects had online access to various project details,including the prices quoted by other bidders.

While officials say the decision has been taken because e-procurement as a system did not function well,sources say the transparency brought about by e-procurement was ‘hitting the vested interests of several people’ and hence,the decision was reverted.

On Thursday,the state cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Mayawati issued new orders that e-procurement has been cancelled. While in ten departments the order will be in immediate effect,the Public Works department has been asked to complete work on those projects for which tenders were filed before January 10,2009.

The order was sent to all concerned departments including the UP Electronics Corporation (UPLC) which is the nodal agency,on Friday,and the state technical unit of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) which provides software support.

Principal Secretary,IT,Chandra Prakash said the decision had been taken at the top level.

“It was just a pilot project and we realised that although it made the process less time consuming,the amount of work that happens in Uttar Pradesh was difficult to handle through it.”

Prakash added that the state departments were ill-equipped to handle the process. “The process was not running smoothly even in the pilot phase and hence,it has been scrapped,” he said.

Implemented on the suggestions of the National E-Governance Plan (NEGP),e-procurement was launched as a

pilot project in seven departments in 2008 and was extended to four more departments a year later.

E-procurement is operational successfully in states like Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The departments where e-procurement was functional include: Public Works Department,Irrigation,Minor Irrigation,Rural Development,UP New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA),UP Development Systems,UP Jal Nigam,Directorate of Printing and Stationery,Industries,Medical and Health,IT,corporations of various departments and Externally Aided programmes.