Photo for representation
Pune: Contractors across the state will stage protests outside district collector offices on Oct 19 over pending govt dues, contractor suicides and alleged harassment by political leaders and the administration, the Maharashtra State Contractors Federation and two other contractors’ organisations announced on Monday. The statewide agitation will be held outside district collector offices at noon on Oct 19, the organisations said, warning govt that contractors would intensify their protest if their demands remained unaddressed. “There have been a total of nine deaths until now, the most recent one reported from Amravati.
The Maharashtra State Contractors Federation, State Engineers Association and Maharashtra State Water Supply Contractors Association said they had repeatedly approached the chief minister, both deputy chief ministers and ministers from the public works, Jal Jeevan Mission, tribal development and rural development departments. “We are fed up with the delay and now with the state having declared drought, it is unlikely that we will get our dues,” said Milind Bhosale, president of the contractors’ association. We have already written to the Chief Minister and we are hoping that they address the issues at the earliest,” said a contractor association member.
They had also held protests, marches and hunger strikes, but govt had neither addressed their grievances nor convened a meeting, they alleged. They alleged that projects were sanctioned with electoral interests in mind and accused political leaders and administrative officials of benefiting from the system. The announcement was made by federation president Milind Bhosale, State Engineers Association general secretary Rajesh Deshmukh, and water supply contractors’ association working president Anand Todkari and Sharad Patil.