BHUBANESWAR: All Odisha Contractors’ Association (AOCA) on Wednesday urged the state government to revise the schedule of rates for construction.
AOCA president Pravat Dash alleged that the government has not revised the schedule of construction rates since 2014.
“According to Odisha Public Works Department (OPWD) code, the schedule of rates should be revised every year. The rates have not been revised despite an increase in wages of labourers and cost of construction materials," he claimed.
Dash said contractors are also being forced to file tenders by deducting 14.99 per cent from 2014 rates. Non-revision of rates for construction will lead to inferior quality works in the State, he warned.
The state government has been violating the standard bidding document (SBD) issued by the Centre during award of civil construction tenders.
This apart, a databook, which was circulated by the Centre in order to fix and regulate pricing of contracts, has also been kept in abeyance by the state government, he said.
The AOCA chief further alleged that the State administration has showed undue favour to contractors and firms of other parts of the country.
“There are some contractors in the State who have not received any work since the last five years as they are being ignored deliberately. Earlier, we had raised the matter with the Government but to no avail,” Dash said and added that around 50,000 contractors in Odisha are staring at a bleak future due to the State government’s apathy.