Bengaluru: With an aim to end allegations of ‘commission’ demand from contractors, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday asked the contractors to approach the Nagamohan Das Commission investigating the 40 percent ‘commission’ allegations against the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka and submit their complaints, if any.
The Congress government which came to power in Karnataka constituted a Commission under Nagamohan Das to investigate 40 percent ‘commission’ accusations levelled by president of Karnataka State Contractors Association D. Kempanna against the BJP government and also drew the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ‘commission’ demand by writing a letter to him.
Siddaramaiah, speaking at a function organized by members of Karnataka State Contractors Association in Bengaluru, said Nagamohan Das Commission is yet to submit its report on 40 percent ‘commission’ allegations and stated that “corruption is rampant and it has to be eliminated in a phased manner.” The aim of the Congress led State Government is to deliver ‘corruption-free’ governance, pro-people policies and focus on overall development of the State.
Siddaramaiah stated to retire from politics if any contractors came forward with allegation of ‘commission’ demanded by him and he stated stated that the previous BJP government had no money to fund the projects but went on inviting tenders without having money which led to accumulation of pending bills amount to Rs 1, 20,000 crore in Karnataka.
He added that decisions were made by PWD officials to invite tenders while contractors executed the works and recalled that when he was the Chief Minister (2013-18) released money before inviting tenders.
To the Association's demand to clear pending bills of contractors at one go, Siddaramaiah reacted "Do I have currency notes printing machine."
Keeping in mind the interests of local/small contractors in mind, the Chief Minister said package in tenders has been given a go by and many contractors from outside States have entered Karnataka and they cannot be driven away at once.
Regarding a demand from the Contractors Association to end the package system in contracts, he said, he sanctioned Rs 4,000 crore for the Public Works Department and no package system in inviting tenders and in coming days, package contracts in works would be reduced to help local/small contractors of the State. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar spoke.
