Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Contractors hail government decision

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government Contractors Association has welcomed the government’s decision to allow increase in rate of the government civil works being executed by the contractors taking into consideration the increase in the price of construction materials.

Association general secretary P. Viswanathan said the decision would speed up the development activities in the State. He thanked the Finance and Public Works Ministers and the organisation’s president V. Surendran Pillai, MLA, in this regard.

He contended that all large-scale construction activities were paralysed in the State for the last six months because of the issue. The total estimate of such work came to around Rs.1,500 crore. The contractors were planning to completely stop all works after Onam. They took the path of agitation only after a series of talks with the government had failed. They stopped the work and organised a Secretariat march and dharna on July 16. MLAs including those belonging to the ruling front had addressed the participants. The Association’s president raised the issue in the Assembly the same day.

A conference attended by the Chief Minister to review the progress of the development activities followed. On the basis of the decision taken by the conference, the Public Works Minister placed a report before the Cabinet and got it approved. Mr. Viswanathan lauded the government for adopting a similar and farsighted stand on the question of clearing the arrears due to contractors.

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