The All Kerala Government Contractors' Association (AKGCA) has launched an agitation against the delay in paying arrears to contractors for works completed in the past several months.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, State general secretary of the association P. Viswanathan said that while the bills for the past 14 months were pending, a recent decision of the Public Works Minister in this regard was quite unfortunate.
According to the decision, the government will pay one-fourth of the cheque discount and the contractors will have to pay the remaining to get the money from the banks. The total arrears to the contractors had exceeded Rs.2,600 crore now and the new proposal would lead them to a huge financial crisis as they had to mobilise funds again for the purpose, Mr. Viswanathan said.
Moreover, such a proposal was a breach of contract signed between the government and the contractors, Mr. Viswanathan said adding that his organisation would challenge the decision in the High Court. ‘‘The decision was quite arbitrary, even without convening a meeting of the contractors to discuss the issue,’’ he said.
The new decision would only help the corporate sharks and it would also lead to increased corruption in the sector, he said. The organisation was planning to stage a State-wide indefinite hartal in the construction and allied sectors with the support of workers to protest against the alleged laxity of the government, Mr. Viswanathan said.
Forum says bills
for 14 months are pending.