Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 15: Valley based contractors today sat on 36-hour hunger strike to protest against the dilly dallying tactics of the State Government in clearing their pending bills worth Rs 700 crore.
The contractors under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Central Contractors’ Committee (JKCCC) assembled at TRC Ground in the morning and sat on hunger strike.
Speaking on the occasion, general secretary, JKCCC, Farooq Ahmed Dar said that injustice is being meted out to more than 70000 Valley based contractors, who even after completing their assigned work, have not being paid their claims.
He said the hunger strike call has been started to protest the Government’s failure in clearing the pending dues of the contractors worth Rs 700 crores, double taxation tendering and WDC Bill system.
Accusing the State Government for compelling them to launch hunger strike, Dar said that it is the biased attitude of Planning Commission of India to Kashmir that has brought such crisis to the contractors of the Valley.
“The Central Government’s refusal to issuance of Rs 1800 crore as developmental funds for this year has exposed the Central Government’s attitude towards development works”, he said.
Dar warned the Government to release the contractors’ pending dues immediately or otherwise they would be forced to boycott all the developmental works after June 20, 2013.
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