K’taka Contractors’ association welcomes clearing of Rs 600 cr worth pending bills

PTI, Feb 13, 2024, 7:58 PM IST

The Karnataka State Contractors’ Association on Tuesday welcomed the clearing of Rs 600 crore worth of pending bills of 1,054 small contractors in the Public Works Department.

The association president D Kempanna, however, reiterated his stand that the ”package system” — dividing contracts into different sections and allotting them to various contractors — was leading to corruption.

”All the pending bills of 1,054 contractors have been cleared,” Kempanna told a press conference.

He said the association has appealed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar to clear the pending bills in various government departments including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city civic body.

”Our struggle is continuing against the package system. We are exploring the legal options regarding the pending bills in the police housing corporation,” Kempanna said.

The octogenarian said: ”We demand that the package system should be abolished. This is leading to corruption.” Kempanna alleged last week that the practice of 40 per cent kickbacks on government contracts continues even under the Congress regime.

Accusing officials in the state government of rampant corruption, he said, earlier (during the previous BJP regime) public representatives were demanding bribes, now it’s their turn.

”Corruption is on in Karnataka by the officials. Till now, no MLA, MP or Minister has asked us for money. Earlier MLAs used to ask for a specified amount to give us a contract for work, that is not the situation now. Now the officials come and ask — give money, if you want work,” Kempanna said.

The association under the leadership of Kempanna earlier alleged ”harassment” by ministers, elected representatives and others during the previous BJP regime, accusing them of demanding 40 per cent commission for awarding contracts and clearing bills, and had even written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.

During the 2023 assembly polls, the Congress made the association’s charge a major campaign issue to dub the BJP as being ”corrupt”.

The ”package system” is being followed to take up projects in all departments, Kempanna said.

”This is being done with the intention to keep away local contractors and favour contractors from neighboring states. Due to the package system, local, small-medium contractors of the state are facing problems as they are not getting the work,” he said.