Engineers of the IFCD when they were grilled by the contractors about the unnecessary delay in clearing the bill of the contractors said necessary amount had not been released by the Finance Department. Contractors lamented they had been befooled by the IFCD. Small time contractors who took up the construction of retaining wall at different areas regretted had they known the payment would not be fast and quick they would not have joined the bandwagon of contractors taking up Nambul river retaining wall construction. Gleefully they took up the work investing the little amount they had. To them it was a question of life. Now family fabric had been shattered as they could not reclaim the mortgaged chains and earrings of their lovely wives and children. Generally everyone assumes that contractors lead wonderful life. There is even one song that expresses the desire to become a contractor. We have in our state contractor engineer, contractor teacher, even contractor MLA. But not all are as lucky as these lucky few. There are lots of contractors, who lead awkward life style. They started with a car and ended with a bicycle. This happens in every Leikai. Government and private partnership is time tested practice, which has made Government programme successful. Therefore when the Union Government releases fund for the state a clear cut message is always given to involve more private partners in taking up Government programmes. Amazingly what happens in Manipur is that the fund released by the Union Government is being used in giving pay and perquisites of the employees. It seems the amount given by the Union Government for construction of the river bank too had been used up in giving the pay of the employees. Whoever responsible for holding back the bill of the contractors should explain why is the bill held back. IFCD should not have taken up the ambitious project if it would not be able to clear the bills. You cannot claim the credit for taking up developmental programmes without clearing the bills of the contractors. As anticipated it resorted to the same old tactics of keeping the contractors in the waiting. Once again IFCD had earned the dubious distinction of being non-paying department of the bill of the contractors. Everyone knows IFCD’s payment is not up to the mark. But the construction of retaining wall all along the Nambul River and other major rivers of the state was taken up under the name of Brahmaputra Board. Purely a central project. The question of Government holding back the bill of the contractors must not arise in such case. It is said 90 percent of the cost of the river bank retaining wall construction launched under the Brahmaputra Board is funded by the Union Government, the remaining 10 percent by the state Government. It is also said the Union Government had cleared its entire share to the Government. Earlier the representatives of the Union Government inspected the concrete structures visiting the areas, where such structures have come up. The matter is serious the highest authority should look into the matter and release contractors bill. Contractors must feel happiness of having a Government that hears the voice of the neglected lot.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/make-them-happy/
