After the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association’s (KSCA) demand to clear pending bills, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated on Saturday, August 12 that the government cannot expedite payment until the ongoing probe is completed. KSCA had previously set an August 31 deadline for the government to address the longstanding issue.
CM Siddaramaiah said, “After the BJP was accused of taking 40% commission, the people rejected the party in the last Assembly elections. We must allow the investigation to shine a light on these charges and assess the quality of work undertaken by contractors over the past four years. The contractors should wait till then.”
The KSCA, which had earlier urged the Congress government to clear the contractors’ unsettled bills by August 31, has been vocal about the inefficacy of the current incremental payment system. KSCA president D Kempanna had on Friday expressed concerns that the backlog from the pending bills amounted to over Rs 20,000 crore.
The Urban Development Department had established four Special Investigation Teams (SITs) to investigate projects carried out under the BBMP for the last four years. Kempanna had argued that probing projects dating back four years was unwarranted and that such investigations would have been more meaningful if conducted within a shorter time frame.