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Nagpur News: The NMC Contractors’ Association, hassled and harassed by top officials on various issues of day-to-day importance, has met the Mayor Anil Sole and thus drew his attention towards the problems faced by them. The contractors have urged the Mayor to intervene in the matter and subsequently rein in the concerned authorities. The Contractors’ Association has submitted a memorandum to Mayor highlighting the following difficulties:
1) Payment of pending bills: The Chief Accounts & Finance Officer (CA&FO) has been frequently adopting dilly-dallying tactics and not clearing the contractors’ pending bills for days together despite continuous follow up actions. The non-clearance of pending bills puts the concerned contractors in enormous difficulties and also affects the other development works. The Executive Engineer of Public Works Department (PWD) has regularly been found reluctant to forward the contractors’ bills pertaining to works of supplying and fixing benches at various designated areas. This negligent attitude of Executive Engineer has been an annoying aspect for the contractors.
2) Employees Provident Fund: The NMC has meticulously been following every rule and regulation of PWD vis-à-vis applicability of Employees’ Provident Fund. According to PWD norms, EPF is only applicable to Class-I and Class-II contractors. But the CA&FO circular has been proving to be a problem. The Department is misinterpreting the circular and enforcing it for all categories of contractors in the registration and tender process.
3) Misinterpretation of scheduled rates: The concerned engineers are not only misinterpreting the wordings of scheduled rates but are also forcing the contractors to follow them for various works. It is nothing but harassment of sorts.
4) e-governance: The contractors are still facing the hardship in submitting their bills following intricacies of e-governance.
The Contractors’ Association has hoped that the Mayor will take up the issues with concerned authorities and find a permanent solution to the nagging problems being faced by the NMC’s contractors.
