Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Municipal contractors have decided to up their ante against the Ujjain Municipal Corporation over the non-payment of the dues.
After knocking on the door of the public representatives, on Thursday they shared their pain with the officials in Ujjain.
The government is alleging financial crisis due to Covid-19 outbreak has withheld the payment of the UMC contractors.
Over a 100 contractors owe more than Rs 60 crore to the Municipal Corporation. They are facing harassment on a daily basis and are forced to follow up with the offices concerned to get their dues, to no avail.
The contractors alleged that due to the non payment of dues their market credit has been affected and now the vendors are not offering them raw materials and services without cash payment. They threatened that if their dues are not released soon then they will be forced to stop the remaining work.
On Thursday, the contractors shared their woes with the collector and commissioner. The contractors told the collector that they are reeling under huge market borrowings. Traders are no longer giving them goods on lease. Our credibility is going down every day, they alleged.
Till now, we were sustaining our expenses in the hope of payment, but things have become very difficult. Arrangements for immediate payment should be made, so that the contractor can continue the work further. Patron of Municipal Builders Association Girish Jaiswal said that the collector and commissioner have assured that their dues will be released soon.
Collector Ashish Singh said that the matter of contractors will be discussed at the government level. However, part time payment is being made to the contractors.
