Ruckus at Telangana Secretariat as contractors reach Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s chambers over pending bills

Under the aegis of the Telangana Civil Contractors Welfare Association, the contractors warned that if the government failed to clear their bills, protests, including relay hunger strikes, would be staged in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Vexed with the Telangana government’s apathy in addressing their issues, civil contractors assembled at Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s chambers in the Secretariat on Friday and demanded that their pending bills to be cleared before this month end.

Under the aegis of the Telangana Civil Contractors Welfare Association, the contractors warned that if the government failed to clear their bills, protests, including relay hunger strikes, would be staged in Hyderabad.

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The contractors from 33 districts arrived at the Deputy Chief Minister’s chambers. They charged that their bills had been pending since long and the government was delaying the payments.

Majority of them were small and medium contractors and claimed that the bills of big contractors were being cleared promptly. The Association members wanted to meet the Deputy Chief Minister and submit a representation, but the Special Protection Force denied them permission. As a result, they entered into an argument with the security personnel.

“Leave aside giving an assurance, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka did not even meet us. Is this Praja Palana?” a member of the association said.

The contractors said they had executed small works, including drainage lines, pipelines, roads and others under different departments, including the Roads and Buildings, Municipal Administration and PRRD.

“Over Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore worth of bills were to be cleared and several representations were submitted to Finance Secretary Ramakrishna Rao. Yet, our issues have not been addressed,” the member said, adding, “Like big contractors, we cannot afford to pay 20 per cent commission to get our bills cleared.”

At a press conference earlier, Telangana Civil Contractors Welfare Association vice president C Srinivas appealed to the government to clear bills of up to Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh through the STO and abolish e-KUBER. Under the STO, the bills would be cleared in a few days but under e-KUBER it takes months, he said.

Many contractors were facing tough times as they had raised funds through loans at considerable interest rates to purchase material and pay wages to labourers. A few had even pledged gold to clear their loans, he said.

“If the government fails to clear our bills before March-end, none will take up works in the ensuing monsoon,” C Srinivas added.

It may be recalled that on January 10, contractors working for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had staged a protest at the head office demanding that their bills should be cleared immediately.