Contractors on warpath, dare govt to form inquiry panel

Association prez claims he has proof of bribe against 14 MLAs, 4 Ministers

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Karnataka State Contractors' Association (KSCA) which has accused elected representatives and bureaucrats of demanding '40 percent commission' for awarding contracts and clearing bills, on Wednesday said they stand by their allegations and asked the government to form an inquiry commission if they have 'guts'. Demanding that the government clear Rs 25,000 crore pending bills, they have said, if not cleared by March 31, they will halt all work.

The contractors under the leadership of the association's president D Kempanna held a protest here, demanding that the government clear their dues at the earliest. They also demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the Karnataka High Court into allegations of bribes or corruption. Earlier this week, the association accused a BJP MLA of taking kickbacks to clear bills, releasing an audio clip as evidence.

"For about one-andhalf years we have been fighting on the issue of corruption, but it was alleged that we have been lying and don't have any documents to prove. We had reason not to release documents, but amid pressure we released one test case and there are similar several such cases. We have given all documents regarding 40 percent commission to our lawyer and he will submit them before the court," Kempanna said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said that Contractors' bills to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore are pending for the last three years. Repeated requests have been made to the government to discuss the issues and to find a solution by following a system. "They give contracts to whomever they want.

The Chief Minister (Basavaraj Bommai) does not have a paisa’s value. The CM had issued some orders, but without giving any value to it, contracts are being given to whomsoever they want,” Kempanna said.

“By March 31 if they don’t clear our dues, we will try to halt all the work. We have been told that dues will be cleared as much as possible by then. If they clear all the dues, we will be happy,” he added. The association had earlier in July 2021 had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with regard to 40 per cent commission charge.

In their letter to Modi, the association had claimed “harassment” by Ministers, elected representatives and others, accusing them of demanding up to 30 per cent of the tender amount for approving a contract, and 5-6 per cent towards release of ‘Letter of Credit’ against pending bills.

Stating that the allegations made by them are 100 percent true and will stand by what they have said and will fight against corruption, Kempanna said that their lawyer has asked them not to make any specific statement on the issue on corruption, and that he would look after it in the court.