Development works to the tune of Rs.5,000 crore will be badly hit during the summer months with government contractors deciding to go on an agitation to get pending bills cleared.
The decision to launch the stir at the district level comes in the wake of hints given by the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) to the Government Contractors Association that the bills for the works executed for Public Works and other departments that are pending since January 2014 will be settled only by May.
“We have been told that the bills of January last will be settled most probably by May, as they hope that the financial situation of the exchequer will improve by then. But there is no guarantee; we had been taken for a ride all these months,” association general secretary P. Vishwanathan told The Hindu .
Mr. Vishwanathan said the January to May period was ideal for civil works pertaining to roads and buildings.
Those who had taken up the works were not able to take loans from banks as they had not been able to clear the previous loans and overdrafts owing to the inordinate delay in settling the bills.
A delegation of the association leaders led by Mr. Vishwanathan met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday and expressed their opposition to the proposed bill discounting system.
The association urged the Chief Minister to intervene and take steps to clear the pending bills by convening a discussion of all concerned.
“We are not positive about the outcome of the representation given to the Chief Minister. Mr. Chandy was pressing for the bill discounting system, and we told him about the hitches the contractors will have to face,” Mr. Vishwanathan said.
Decision pending
An advice received by the contractors from the bureaucracy is to stop the works for one year to prevent more bills from piling up. The association is yet to decide on the proposal. The association fears the government is trying to drag the settlement of the bills till the local body elections and the Assembly elections that will follow.
Summer months ideal for civil works
Bills likely to be settled only by May
