Guwahati: The Leader of Opposition at the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia alleged that the recent suicide of a contractor is a failure of the current government.
He stated that the state government has been claiming that the state treasury situation is fine but it has been reported in a section of the media that contractors in the state are owed crores of Rupees against their unpaid bills. “Recently, it has been brought to our notice that a score of contractors under the PWD, Irrigation, Guwahati Development Department, the National Health Mission (NHM) and other departments are yet to receive their bills despite completing their allotted work”, Saikia added.
It should be mentioned here that for the year 2020-21, work orders were issued with instructions to complete the work before March 31, in view of the elections. The contractors also abided by the order and completed their work before the end of the time limit but their bills have still remained unpaid by the government.
He added that according to available information, till March 2021, the unpaid amount to contractors stood at around Rs 13,000 crores. However, it has emerged that some contractors close to ministers and MLAs received bill amounts without completing work.
He further said, “Moreover, corruption in the construction of embankment on Jiadhol river in Dhemaji district has also been exposed. So, non-payment of bills to bonafide contractors in spite of completion of allotted work remains a moot question.”
Lately, a contractor at Laluk in Lakhimpur district committed suicide for non-receipt of money against bill for completed work.
From the suicide note left by the contractor, it is clear that the contractor took this extreme step due to financial trouble arising from non-payment of bills amounting to Rs 17 lakhs by NHM and lakhs more due from other departments.
“This is a tragic and unfortunate incident. This has happened due to the failure of the state government and the blame rests on the same. The government should take steps for payment of contractors’ dues so that another such incident does not occur in the state”, Saikia added.