Contractors'' body warns statewide stir over non-payment of pending bills worth Rs 37,370 cr

Addressing a press conference, Karnataka State Contractors Association KSCA president R Manjunath alleged that the situation is dire in the state as many of them, especially the small contractors, are on the verge of ending their lives due to piling debts.

A contractors association on Thursday warned the Karnataka government that it would launch a statewide stir against the non-payment of pending bills worth Rs 37,370 crore. Addressing a press conference, Karnataka State Contractors Association (KSCA) president R Manjunath alleged that the situation is dire in the state as many of them, especially the small contractors, are on the verge of ending their lives due to piling debts. Manjunath said several pleas and memoranda to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ministers and senior officers have gone in vain and they are left with no other option but go one an indefinite strike. ''Our pleas have gone unnoticed in the last two-and-half years since the government came to power,'' the KSCA president rued. KSCA general secretary G M Nandakumar alleged that touts in the Urban Development Department are ruling the roost. According to him, corruption has gone up manifold in various departments compared to the previous government. During the BJP rule, the KSCA had alleged that 40 per cent commission is being collected, giving ammunition to the Congress, which was in the opposition, to take on the ruling BJP then.

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