Maharashtra contractors warn of state-wide protest if Rs 80,000 crore dues not paid
The Maharashtra Contractors Association, which claims to represent about three lakh members in 35 districts of the state, plans to launch a mass awareness campaign and a large-scale protest if the government does not meet the deadline for payments.
'The government has chosen to remain silent, but we will not,' the association's president Milind Bhosale told CNBC-TV18. 'If needed, we will take this agitation to every corner of Maharashtra.'
The association has claimed that payments to the tune of Rs 38,000 crore are pending from the state public works department, Rs 6,500 crore from the rural development department, Rs 12,000 crore from the water conservation and water resources department and Rs 4,217 crore from the urban development department.
Bhosale said the association has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against the rural development department, CNBC-TV18 reported. He added that if its demands are not met by June 10, it will file another petition against the public works department.
'We wrote to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis again a couple of days ago,' he told the channel. 'But still, there is no sign of us getting our money.'
In February, the contractors had gone on strike for a week to protest the dues. They had alleged that the government had not paid them since July last year, although it was allocating money for initiatives like the Ladki Bahin Scheme for monthly payments to women, The Times of India reported.
At the time, Maharashtra Public Works Department Minister Shivendraraje Bhosle said he had asked for Rs 10,000 crore to be released at the earliest for the contractors, according to The Indian Express.
'I have spoken to the chief minister and finance minister,' the minister had told the newspaper. 'Both are positive regarding the demands raised by contractors. The government is positive about our demand of Rs 10,000 crore to be released at the earliest.'
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