Pune: State govt on Wednesday assured contractors it would release Rs 5,000 crore for road repairs and pothole filling, and Rs 700 crore for pending bills for govt building repairs, before Diwali. The assurances came after days of a phone-in agitation by contractors over delayed payments and mounting dues.
At a meeting at Mantralaya, Bhosale said Rs 9,700 crore had been earmarked for road repairs and pothole filling across the state, of which Rs 5,000 crore had been released. “The public works department requires around Rs 1,300 crore to clear pending bills for govt building repairs. Of this, Rs 700 crore will be released before Diwali,” the minister assured the delegation. Regarding the allocation of smaller contracts, works costing up to Rs 10 lakh and those between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore will be distributed equally among categories, as stipulated in the 2004 govt resolution, with a 33% share reserved for educated unemployed engineers. They will also be exempted from machinery-related requirements and other additional conditions in open tenders under the 2018 resolution, the associations said. At a meeting with tribal development minister Ashok Uike at his Mumbai residence, the delegation was assured that Rs 560 crore would be released before Diwali to clear the department’s pending contractor bills. Patil said, “A proposal for Rs 760 crore has received approval.
“The process of releasing the remaining amount is being initiated,” Bhosale said during the meeting. The meeting also discussed pending payments for govt building repairs. Some of these payments have reportedly been outstanding for nearly a year. The delegation also raised concerns over delayed payments under the Jal Jeevan Mission with water supply minister Gulabrao Patil, in the presence of department secretary Parag Jain. The funds would be made available in phases, both before and after Diwali.”
The assurances came during separate meetings on Wednesday between representatives of the Maharashtra State Contractors Federation, State Engineers Association and Maharashtra State Water Supply Contractors Association and public works minister Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale, tribal development minister Ashok Uike and water supply minister Gulabrao Patil.