THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Contractors in the state are having a harrowing time as their security deposit of a few lakhs for each project is stuck in government coffers.
The LDF government had announced a Rs 20,000 crore stimulus package on March 19 to tide over the crisis faced by different sectors in the wake of the pandemic. Out of that, Rs 14,000 crore was earmarked to clear the dues of contractors. With development work coming to a standstill, contractors are facing hardships with a dearth of funds.
Varghese Kannampally, president, Kerala Government Contractors Association, lamented that they are yet to receive the dues from the state government though two months had elapsed since the announcement made by the chief minister.
“There has been no dearth of false promises from the LDF government. More than Rs 1,500 crore is pending to Kerala Water Authority contractors alone, which dates back to 18 months. Now the banks are also reluctant to give discount rates, putting us in a quandary,” Kannampally told The New Indian Express.
The Centre had come out with specific orders saying that due to COVID-19, the liquidity crunch being faced by contractors should be avoided. But the contractors allege that the state government has given scant regard to the Centre’s order pushing them further into trouble as their performance security deposit is also not being released.
The majority of contractors take up a handful of projects in various departments and for each they have to cough up a few lakhs which they can recover only after five years.
Projects under the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) require only a bank guarantee making the contractors’ lives easier.
They allege that while the dealings of the CPWD are transparent, with banks also coming to their rescue in giving guarantees, the state government is making their lives miserable.