Bengaluru, Oct 18 Commenting on the time period set by the Karnataka State Contractors' Association to clear the pending dues of Rs 33,000 crore, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also the Bengaluru Development Minister, said on Saturday that he is not afraid of threats by the association.
He was speaking to the media at Venkayya Park at K.R. Puram assembly constituency in Bengaluru during the "Bengaluru Nadige" (Walk in Bengaluru) campaign as part of a "Dialogue with Citizens".
The Deputy Chief Minister said, "Their (Karnataka State Contractors' Association's) deadline does not apply to me. I have called for a meeting with the association and will speak to them directly. I am not afraid of threats. During the previous BJP-led state government, the association had allowed expenses that exceeded the state's budget. That is why this problem has arisen. Nevertheless, we are clearing their pending bills step by step, and we will continue to do so until the issue is resolved."
The Karnataka State Contractors' Association on Friday urged the Congress-led Karnataka government to release Rs 33,000 crore in pending dues to contractors and warned that if the money was not released, they would halt all works across the state and hold a large-scale protest.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, the Karnataka State Contractors' Association President R. Manjunath said, "The Congress leaders assured us that if their government came to power in Karnataka, they would resolve the contractors' issues. Now, they (Congress government) are not clearing dues. Contractors are left with no option but to consider extreme measures."
He added that wives and children of contractors are constantly reaching out to the association.
"Out of a total of Rs 52,000 crore in pending bills, a few departments have released some money, leaving Rs 33,000 crore still unpaid," he said.
"We will wait for another month. If the money is not released, we will launch a large-scale protest," he warned.
Shivakumar also said: "This region (K.R. Puram) has a national highway, flyovers and metro. We will link the tunnel road to all these infrastructures in this area. We may not be able to solve 100 per cent of your grievances but we are making our sincere attempt."
"Setting up five new corporations is a historic decision. We are collecting taxes worth Rs 6,000 crore from the city, of which Bengaluru East has a share of Rs 1,600 crore. The taxes that the respective corporation collects must now be used in the same zone," he added.
"Bengaluru East Corporation is a resourceful corporation across Karnataka and the revenues will be used to fix the civic issues here. Earlier, the amount collected here was used in other parts of the city too. We have taken many steps to expedite development works. The Council of the corporation can spend up to Rs 10 crore without tenders and the Commissioner Rs 3 crore without tenders," Shivakumar said.
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