The Karnataka State Contractors Association has threatened to protest in front of the District Collector's office in all district headquarters if the outstanding amount owed to them was not paid. The Association also threatened to lay siege to the Chief Minister's residence in Bengaluru. The Association alleged that more than Rs 22,000 crore is yet to be released to contractors from various government departments, including Public Works, Irrigation and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
At a press conference held on Tuesday, March 14, Association president Kempanna said that most of the works are ongoing, and the outstanding amount for completed projects in these three departments alone exceeds Rs 10,000 crore. The Public Works Department has arrears of around Rs. 5,000 crore, while the Irrigation Department has arrears of around Rs 8,000 crore. Meanwhile, BBMP owes around Rs 3,000 crore, according to the contractors. “The due amount is being released only to those nominated by Ministers, MLAs, and senior officials, and even then, the payments are delayed by at least two years after the completion of the work,” the association alleged.
The Association has asked the government to release the outstanding amounts in a phased manner to provide relief to contractors facing severe financial hardship. The Karnataka State Contractors Association had earlier released an audio recording of BJP MLA GH Thippareddy allegedly demanding a bribe from the Association’s vice-president R Manjunath. Manjunath had alleged that he paid Thippareddy 25% of the bribe amount he had demanded, to carry out various construction works.