Govt must understand plight of contractors amidst lockdown: Surendra Pal
Jamshedpur, May 8: The Jamshedpur centre of Builders Association of India (BAI), the apex body of civil engineering construction companies including small, medium and big contractors, has asked the State Government to release the pending dues of road construction contractor at the earliest. BAI ( Jamshedpur Centre) chairman Surendra Pal Singh ( Titu) has written to State Chief Minister Hemanrt Soren to draw his attention over the plight of contractors amidst the spread of Coronavirus. �
The chairman of the association presided over a tele-conference of its executive committee and said that the contractors have long pending dues for works done for road construction and Buildings and other segments.
Singh said that Builders Association of India is aware that the State Government is taking measures to fight COVID 19 but the Government should also need to understand the difficulties faced by the contractors as they are also source of employment for several engineers and workers.
�The payments are delayed for eight months. This is putting pressure on the cash flows of the contractors. These contractors generate several employment opportunities the Government should understand its importance release all the payments,� said Singh.
Another official of the association said that the contractors have invested in upgrading and buying new machinery for projects. They are required to pay the installments and any delay in clearing the bills is putting a pressure on the contractors as they are not able to match the cash flows.
The members of BAI also said that that since they were unable to pay monthly instalments of their machinery, the banks and financial institutions might seize them. They said some of the small contractors were not in a position to pay their labourers, which was affecting the ongoing lockdown.
Meanwhile, the contractors said they were using the best quality material for construction when compared with the contractors of other States and the government should recognise their contribution and help them.