New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has announced implementation of an electronic and transparent tender system for ending "mafia raj" in construction projects especially those funded by the World Bank.

The new system "will give an end to the mafia raj and any person will be in a position to apply for tender. Besides it will become possible to get the works completed as there existed national and international competition in filling tenders," Chief Minister Mayawati said in a public notice issued by her government.

Mayawati said it was a well-known fact that the state government completed its construction works by inviting tenders in which complaints were being received since long and many "unscrupulous and mafia made efforts to obtain the construction works".

She said the honest persons and institutions were facing difficulty competing in the projects. The World Bank had recently discovered serious cases of fraud and corruption in five health sector projects in India dealing with tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS.

World Bank President Robert B Zoellick had said these were unacceptable indicators of fraud and corruption. E-tendering in Uttar Pradesh will begin as a pilot project from February in departments involved in public works, irrigation and information technology.

It will also cover all the externally aided schemes, including those by the World Bank. The Mayawati government has embarked upon an ambitious Rs 30,000 crore UP Expressway project connecting Greater Noida in the west of the state to Balia in the east.

Several big houses including JP Associates, Zoom Developers, Unitech and Reliance Energy are in the race for the project.

Source : PTI