Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 5: Police today foiled the Secretariat gherao of contractors in support of their demands, including payment of bills, cancellation of double taxation, e-tendering and payment through cheques. They have threatened to boycott work from June 20 if their demands are not met.
Jammu and Kashmir Central Contractor’s Coordination Committee (JKCCCC), an amalgam of several contractors’ unions, had last month announced to gherao the Civil Secretariat to protest against the Government for not fulfilling their demands.
Hundreds of contractors today assembled at Press Enclave here and tried to march towards the secretariat, but were stopped by police ordering them to disperse, Farooq Ahmad Dar, general secretary JKPCCCC told Excelsior.
Dar said the contractors insisted on going ahead but police used batons to disperse them, claiming that at least 100 contractors were arrested by the police.
Station House Officer, Kothibagh, Mohammad Zulqarnain, however, said they detained only 10 contractors and later released them.
“We have given the government much time to fulfill our demands, but they seem insensitive. We are forced by them to take this extreme step to get our demands fulfilled,” Dar said.
He said that the JKPCCCC failed to understand why the Government does not pay them the pending bills amounting to Rs 700 crore even as the developmental works were completed on time despite weather vagaries.
The contractors also demanded that the usage of YDC bills should be stopped.
“Our bills should be paid through cheques. The e-tendering mode should be stopped to save us from losing contracts during the inclement weather when the electricity supply is snapped for many days in the Valley. We lost contracts worth Rs 30 crore when Valley reeled under darkness in previous winter season,” he said.
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