BENGALURU: Amid protest threats by contractors’ association over Rs 38,000 crore in pending bills, Karnataka govt has released Rs 2,400 crore to the irrigation department over the past three days.The association had written to the CM two days ago even as govt had set aside Rs 1,400 crore for clearing pending bills in irrigation department that has highest dues.Contractors said the release covers less than 10% of dues and ad-hoc measure has no real impact on loans piling up. R Manjunath, association president, said “What is the use if payments are made once in 3-4 months? They should clear the amount in one single stroke and do whatever they please later.”A senior govt official said that finance department will issue an NOC for the purpose and added that a similar exercise may be taken up to clear dues of PWD contractors.No additional provision to clear dues, say officialsGovt has decided to release next quarter’s funds early, allowing departments to use part of the allocation to clear pending bills while continuing ongoing work.“Departments can use the funds judiciously and maintain a balance between expenditure for current work and pending bills,” said an official.Officials said govt cannot go beyond existing budgetary allocations and that there will be no additional provision to clear dues.Manjunath said the CMO has sought a meeting with the association and alleged that the Rs 1,400 crore earmarked for irrigation bills would be paid out based on seniority, benefiting bigger contractors and leaving smaller contractors waiting.The association puts pending bills at Rs 13,000 crore for major and medium irrigation, Rs 8,370 crore for PWD, Rs 3,800 crore for RDPR and Rs 3,000 crore for minor irrigation. Officials said these figures may include estimates for ongoing work.
