Bills stuck with govt, KEONICS vendors seek PM’s Intervention

The association has also written to the President of India, Union IT/BT minister and the Karnataka governor.
Bills stuck with govt, KEONICS vendors seek PM’s Intervention
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BENGALURU: In the wake of the state contractors’ association threatening to launch protests over the delay in releasing pending bills, vendors working with the Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (KEONICS), a state government undertaking, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to release pending bills and end “harassment”.

Keonics Empanelled Vendors’ Welfare Association, in its letter to the PM, stated that around 450 to 500 vendors working with KEONICS are in dire straits due to delays in releasing the pending bills and changes in the eligibility criteria by the management. Eligibility criteria were changed to help some big companies, they alleged.

The association has also written to the President of India, Union IT/BT minister and the Karnataka governor.

The association held IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge, KEONICS Chairman Sharath Bache Gowda and senior officers with the corporation responsible for the harassment they face. It also held them responsible if any of the vendors took extreme measures. 

Association president Vasanth K Bangera said bills worth around Rs 350-400 crore are pending and nearly 6,000 families that depend on the vendors are facing hardships. Vendors are being harassed as they had protested against an official who had demanded commission and bills are being held back in the name of investigating a few violations, they alleged.

BJP urges CM to take action

The opposition BJP urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to take immediate measures to clear the pending bills. Taking to a social media platform, the BJP stated that the state government was “torturing” the contractors and now the KEONICS vendors’ welfare association has written to the President seeking mercy killing. The letter mentions Minister Priyank Kharge and MLA Sharath Bache Gowda, the BJP stated.

Minister Kharge hit back at BJP leaders, asking them to do their homework thoroughly before making public statements. Payments to vendors, who have not been involved in any malpractice, will be processed based on the recommendations of the fact-finding committee, he said.

“Do you seriously expect our government to clear payments to vendors who were involved in irregularities during your tenure? Have you forgotten the accountant general’s audit findings, which flagged over Rs 300 crore worth of misappropriations by KEONICS under your government?” the minister said.

The minister said some of the audit observations included payments made without conducting third-party inspections, payments made against fake bills before the supply of goods, claims for software that were never installed yet payments were made, fraudulent and excessive claims by vendors, including payments against fake delivery ‘challans’ and forged third-party inspection reports.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. The corruption and mismanagement under your administration ran deep and is being investigated. Why are you in such a hurry to go behind bars? Instead of questioning me, why not direct your questions to the then IT minister and chief minister from your own party?” Kharge stated.

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