In Khammam, a disabled contractor working under the ‘Man Uru-Man Badi’ scheme locked the school gate after not receiving the dues of Rs 11 lakh. The lock was opened after assurance from the officials. The contractor had taken loan and has been struggling for payment for years.
Khammam (Telangana) [भारत]July 1 (ANI): Contractor doing development work under ‘Man Uru – Man Badi’ program Ch. Ayodhya has alleged that the authorities concerned have not paid his dues of Rs 11 lakh. He said that he is being harassed by making him go from door to door to pay the dues.
Saying that their bills have not yet been passed despite repeated assurances from officials, they locked the main gate of Mandal Parishad Primary School in Danavaigudem area of Khammam district on Monday. The gate was unlocked only after assurance from the police and the Mandal Education Officer (MEO), who said that steps would be taken to clear their bills as soon as possible.
Contractor has been visiting offices for years
The contractor, resident of Danavigudem, said that he is physically disabled. During the tenure of the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, he completed several development works worth Rs 21 lakh in the school under the ‘Man Uru-Man Badi’ programme. These works were inaugurated by the then Palair MLA Kandula Upendra Reddy.
However, the concerned authorities delayed the process of payment by almost two years claiming that the relevant bills were lost somewhere. “They were told that the Movement Books (MBs) were missing and they were not able to find them,” Ayodhya said.
Ayodhya further said that after some time during the work, Rs 10 lakh was received, while the dues of more than Rs 11 lakh were still outstanding. The contractor said that he was being harassed and made to wander from door to door. Even after contacting the District Collector, the matter remained unresolved.
After minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy brought the matter to the notice of camp office in-charge Dayakar Reddy, officials took the initiative to process the bill online. However, the bills were not visible in the online system. Subsequently, when he visited the Municipal Corporation office and met the Assistant Engineer (AE), District Education Officer (DEO) and Collector, he was told that only the bill amount had been officially processed and would be paid. But instead of processing his outstanding bill of Rs 11 lakh, the amount was reduced and has not been paid even after four years.
The work was done by taking loan
The contractor said that these works were done with borrowed money, in which the previous headmistress had lent Rs 3 lakh at an interest rate of 3 per cent per month. Ayodhya said he had borrowed Rs 2 lakh from Ramana, a local Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader, and also borrowed money on interest from others to complete the project. He expressed his anguish over the rising interest burden on loans taken to cover investment costs while waiting for the bills to be paid.
The school’s headmaster, Darawat Bhadru, said that when the contractor locked the school gate, he contacted the Khanapuram police; Circle Inspector (CI) and Sector Inspector (SI) of the station visited the spot and spoke to the contractor as well as higher officials. The MEO also tried to find out where the funds were stuck by talking to higher officials and assured the contractor that steps would be taken to clear their bills as soon as possible. The headmaster said, “After this the contractor unlocked the gate, so that the staff and students could come inside.”
BJP surrounded the government
State BJP chief spokesperson NV Subhash criticized the Revanth Reddy government and demanded immediate release of pending dues. He stressed that there have been several instances where contractors have threatened to commit suicide if pending bills are not paid.
He said, “This shows the financial implications of the Telangana government without any financial feasibility, without doing any mathematics. The Revanth Reddy government had given a lot of hopes to the people of Telangana during the 2023 elections. This incident happened in Khammam Assembly. Out of Rs 26 lakh, only Rs 13 lakh is to be given to the contractor,” he said.
The BJP leader has alleged that similar problems have occurred across the state, especially in Hyderabad. He said, “Many such incidents are happening in Telangana, especially in Hyderabad, even in the GHMC premises. Many contractors have threatened to commit suicide because their bills are pending, because GHMC has no money. The government is responsible because even small contractors are not getting their dues. We demand immediate release of the amount or you make some kind of arrangement.” (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)