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| JKPCCCA welcomes CS's viewpoint on financial discipline, raise some issues | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 10: President of JKPCC Contractors Association (JKPCCCA) Jammu province Rakesh Jalali today welcomed the viewpoint of Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, explained during an interview with national news channel regarding maintaining of financial discipline in government departments but also raised some pertinent issues.
Rakesh Jalali appreciated the role of present Chief Secretary, who in the capacity of Financial commissioner Finance department brought drastic changes in the overall functioning of all the government departments in UT of J&K, besides maintaining a strict financial discipline.
"Even though, there were many initial hiccups in implementing these financial codes & with the result entire contractors fraternity faced lot of difficulties as getting the TS (Technical sanction) done at a very initial stage was a tough and hectic task and time consuming too as the different wings of the same government had to seek TS from PWD Department as a result of which the contractors had to wait for many months to get their payments from various departments for want of TS & AA", Jalali said.
He further said adhering to the financial discipline should be the motive of all the citizens of a civilised society to lead things in a most systematic and scientific manner to its logical conclusion. While endorsing the statement of CS, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta that there were works awarded by JKPCC to the contractors worth crores of rupees on the nomination bases (Departmental works) without adopting the e-ender procedures, but the proper administrative set up was then also in existence.
"I want to draw your kind attention on a very interesting subject that the practice of nomination works wasn't adopted by JKPCC only but prevailed almost in all the Govt departments of erstwhile J&K such as PWD, J&K Police Housing Corpn, Police construction division (PCD) , Local Bodies, J&K Housing Board, Hospitality & Protocol, Rural Engineering wing (REW) Rural Sanitation Deptt, irrigation Deptt etc", Rakesh Jalali said.
Reacting sharply to a statement of the Chief Secretary that they (Contractors) wanted to have that system, Rakesh Jalali said, "Be it known to everyone that contractors do not frame any Govt policy or even can't devise any administrative policies & procedures. It is always the given existing system in which they (Contractors) get dragged away and can't fight with the system, it is only the Govt machinery, which always drafts and formulates the new methods and procedures for its strict implementation as has been remarkably done by the present Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta in his capacity as Financial Commissioner, Department of finance".
It may be recalled that there has been the strict e-Tendering system in JKPCC or elsewhere for over two years now and all the contractors are very gracefully and in a most dignified manner participating in to the bids, which simply depicts that it is only the government, which enacts or enforce any law or conventions and not the contractors, averred Jalali.
It's further added that breaking or making of any rule of law is always in the hands of government machinery & no person in his individual capacity can introduce any such method in a given existing setup as per his own will or wish, irrespective of form of the Govt, be it a governor rule or popular government.
"More interestingly, there were some works awarded to the contractors & piece workers of JKPCC pre e-tendering phase. The contractors executed & completed their contracts, against which JKPCC received the payments from their respective project authorities, but withheld the payments of contractors & piece workers, who have borrowed huge loans & working CC limits from their bankers & paying hefty sums as bank interest since past so many years for no fault of contractors", Jalali said.
On behalf of contractors, Jalalii said, "We contractors made several representations to the MD JKPCC and other Govt functionaries in the civil secretariat but all in vain. It is very astonishing that JKPCC recovered its cost of cement & steel from all those executed contracts, but kept on hold the huge payments worth several crores of rupees of all the helpless contractors, with no solid reason. Why JKPCC applied two different yardsticks for an identical problem, is a million dollar question to be replied to?."
Moreover, in the backdrop of severe payment problems in JKPCC (Nomination & e-Tender works) there has been the new trend introduced by JKPCC ltd for past one year by inviting the huge Composite tenders of the building works thus debarring the small time contractors & piece workers, who have rendered their tireless services to this corporation for several years, since its (JKPCC) inception by producing the model buildings, bridges & most prestigious projects in entire J&K and Ladakh, which speak of its excellent quality of work & also have stood the test of time, but they are now restrained from participating into the big composite tenders because of their non availability of qualification criteria, who can't participate into these bids in absence of qualification criteria. Because, in past history, jkpcc used to engage a group of them (piece workers/contractors) in a project by adhering to the By-laws of its (jkpcc) constitution, Rakesh Jalali asserted. |
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