Ajay Sharma
Jammu Tawi, January 8
Accusing the Public Works Department (PWD), Reasi, Jammu of allegedly customizing the terms and conditions of tendering to benefit some big contractors, a group of small contractors maintained that the department is ‘inclined’ to patronize only big contractors.
Talking to Northlines, contractors from group C and D, stated that officers of PWD are arbitrarily amending terms and conditions of the tenders.
“It appears the officers of PWD are not interested in working with contractors of C and D category. From major to minor projects, they put certain conditions in the tenders which cannot be fulfilled by contractors of C and D category,” lamented contractors, adding that most of the time, to eliminate potential competition from small contractors, officers seek DPR at higher rates and incorporate irrelevant conditions, even for the minor projects.
They alleged that it is understood that for major projects, the DPR should be above one crore, but in cases where the project cost of not more than Rs 15 lakh, the officers put DPR more than Rs 50 lakh. The aggrieved persons alleged that such terms and conditions are often devised by some favorite contractors and incorporated in the official tender documents by the conniving officials.
“It means they are eliminating the small contractors from the competition,” said contractors, adding that it cannot be justified how these officers are playing for some select group of contractors.
At one hand the centre and the state governments always speak loud for generating employment for the youth, such tactics may render many young contractors out of a fair competition. They maintained that the Lieutenant Governor and concerned higher authorities should take cognizance of the matter, otherwise they will be forced to hit the streets.
They further appealed to the concerned authorities to check who has made these rules of high DPR and if any such rule exists, it should be discarded.
