SRINAGAR: The Contractors Association of Jammu Province has urged the Jammu and Kashmir administration to immediately release over Rs 1080 crore worth of pending payments for works executed under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) by the Jal Shakti Department across the Union Territory.
Addressing a press conference in Jammu, Association president Sham Singh Jamwal and general secretary Vinod Kohli said that despite the Government of Jammu and Kashmir having already issued the utilisation certificate (UC) to the Union Ministry concerned, the contractors’ payments have remained uncleared for more than 14 months.
“When the UC stands issued as per the records of the concerned Ministry, there is no reason for withholding the payments. A high-level inquiry should be held to ascertain where this money has gone,” the Association leaders said.
Providing details, the Association said that while bills worth over Rs 700 crore pertain to contractors from Jammu Province, the remaining Rs 380 crore belong to contractors from Kashmir Province. They said that most of the contractors had taken loans from banks and other financial institutions to complete the allotted works under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
General secretary Vinod Kohli said the Association had repeatedly approached the concerned Executive Engineers, Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs), Superintending Engineers, the Chief Engineer, and even the Administrative Secretary of the department. “We only received hollow assurances. The works have been completed long back, yet the payments remain pending for reasons best known to those at the helm,” he said.
Kohli also pointed out that under the Central Government guidelines, DDOs are required to clear 75 per cent of the bill amount within ten days of submission by contractors and the remaining 25 per cent within the next three months. “In case of delay, payments must be made along with interest at the GPF rate,” he said, adding that the officials concerned were “not adhering to these directives despite the scheme being extended for three more years.”
The Contractors Association has sought the personal intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Jal Shakti Minister Javed Rana, and Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo to resolve the issue urgently and ensure that the pending payments are cleared without further delay.
