Thiruvananthapuram: Building and road contractors are finding it difficult to make 50 percent treasury deposit amount due to demonetisation. They couldn't transfer money from their bank accounts either, causing great hardships to them. Kerala Government Contractors Association alleges that the state government is not taking alternative measures to sort out the issue. For example, if there is a road work for Rs 1 crore, the norm is that Rs 5 lakh has to be paid as security, and out of that 50 percent amount (Rs 2.5 lakh) has to be paid as a deposit in the treasury. It is this sum which the contractors are finding it difficult to pay.
KGCA hopes that the state government would come out with an alternative mechanism. With almost four weeks since the currency crisis began, some works of the public works department have come to a standstill. “We can take our work forward only if we make the treasury deposit. At the same time, we are finding it difficult to pay our labourers as most of them, especially those from within the state, do not have a bank account,” claimed Varghese Kannampally, president of KGCA. Finance minister Dr Thomas Issac has asked the PWD secretary Subrata Biswas to give a report, following a KGCA representation. "Hopefully, the government will make some amendments so that developmental projects are not affected,” a top PWD official told DC.
