In an unprecedented move, the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association will stage a massive protest rally in Bengaluru and is considering holding a relay hunger strike by the end of April, demanding a “cut back in kickbacks”.
D. Kempanna, president of the association, had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2021 alleging that “kickbacks” in contracts awarded by the State Government had ballooned to 40%. Neither did the Prime Minister’s Office respond to the letter nor has the situation changed under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, he said on Sunday at an event, ‘40% Commission, a mega-scam that shocked no one: What next for Karnataka?’ organised by Jagruta Karnataka, a body of activists
“We are unable to work in this condition. Neither the State nor the Union Government has responded to our grievances. So we have decided to go on a protest by April end,” he said.
The association has held press conferences in nearly 20 districts. “There are one lakh contractors in the State. We will organise over 50,000 contractors for the protest rally in the city,” he said, adding that they may also launch a relay hunger strike.
“Mr. Modi during the Assembly election campaign in 2018 alleged that the Siddharamaiah Government had become a 10% Government. But the kickbacks ballooned to 40%. Today, most MLAs expect to be paid around 10% kickback even before work starts or we get any bills cleared. How are we to do any quality work?” Mr. Kempanna alleged.
The association is also demanding priority for contractors from the State. “Of the one lakh contractors active in the State, 296 are from outside Karnataka, who get nearly 80% of the large contracts. This is essentially because they are big contractors who are ready to pay large kickbacks even before the work begins. To help them, a large number of smaller works are bundled together into packages. Most of these works are subcontracted to smaller contractors from the State for whom payments have been pending for many years now,” he explained.
The association has also demanded that the Government should stop awarding contracts to Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd. (KRIDL). “The agency doesn’t even have an engineer or a quality test lab. Most of the works awarded to the agency are largely incomplete. The Government has awarded over ₹20,000 crore worth of works to the agency. Even Karnataka Lokayukta has also recommended that works should not be given to KRIDL,” Mr. Kempanna said.
