Irked by the State Government’s decision to implement E- tendering process in small works, the association of contractors has threatened a stir during the Assembly session slated to start on December 7 at Gairsain.
Addressing the media persons here on Friday, the convener of the Uttarakhand State Contractors Association, S S Negi said that the contracts as low as Rs 25 lakhs are now being given by the process of E- tendering due to which the small contractors have found themselves without work. “Earlier, the contracts worth more than Rs 1.5 crore were being listed in E –tendering, but now the state government has reduced it to Rs 25 lakhs, landing us in a grave crisis while benefiting the big companies.
The big companies are now grabbing the works through E -tendering and in most of the cases, they are sub- letting works to others at very low prices due to which the quality of work is being affected,” he said.
He further said that the small contractors providing employment to thousands of local people, the state government’s move would leave them with no work, something that would deprive the locals of job opportunities too. “By way of an instance, the outsiders grabbed a major share of the tenders worth Rs 60 crore recently floated by the irrigation and public works department (PWD),” he said. He said that it is all about loss of their business.
Negi further said that the local contractors had completed 328 works successfully on very low rates in the aftermath of the deluge 2013 that ravaged Kedarnath. “We completed works braving the tough condition. later, the works in Kedarnath were handed over to Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) which employed Nepali labourers and the standard of the works dipped low,” he claimed.
The members of the association informed that they would finalise the contours of their stir during the meeting of the association to be held in Ukhimath on December 5. “However, as things stand now, we would lay a siege at the Assembly after it starts on December 7,” Negi warned.
Among others present at the meeting were Kuldeep Kandari, Khushal Singh Negi, Narendra Panwar and Pradeep Benjwal.