There’s corruption taking place: Contractors’ body complains to Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Specifically naming officials and departments indulging in bribery, the Karnataka State Contractors Association (KSCA) asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday to stem corruption in his administration.

A KSCA delegation led by its president D Kempanna met Siddaramaiah, which came a day after the contractors’ body set a 30-day deadline for the government to release at least 50 per cent of pending bills worth Rs 22,000 crore.

The KSCA had accused the previous BJP government of ‘40 per cent% commission’, which the Congress turned into a successful poll campaign.

“We lodged a complaint with the CM that some officials aren’t behaving properly,” Kempanna told reporters. “For instance, the BBMP commissioner and engineer-in-chief are giving us a lot of trouble when it comes to money. We said this openly. The CM said he’d talk to them,” he said.

“We told the CM that corruption is taking place. We urged him to address it,” Kempanna said.

According to Kempanna, it was the CM who sought a meeting with the KSCA.

“It's been 5.5 months and our payments are pending. The CM said the financial position is bad. But he assured us that our dues would be cleared as soon as possible,” Kempanna said.

Siddaramaiah also assured the KSCA that a meeting would be convened over the next one month with officials and ministers concerned. “The CM said we could approach him with our problems,” Kempanna said.

Saturday’s meeting with Siddaramaiah also came a day after Income Tax sleuths seized an estimated Rs 42 crore in raids linked to the KSCA vice-president R Ambikapathy.

Kempanna declined to comment on the BJP and JD(S) launching attacks on the Congress government over the raids. “We have nothing to do with politics. As far as we know, our contractors aren't involved,” he said. “Our vice-president was into a lot of things...quarrying, farming and so on. The law will take its own course. If he’s guilty, we’re ready to sack him,” he said.

Additional Chief Secretary to CM Rajneesh Goel, Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Rakesh Singh and Principal Secretary (Rural Development) Anjum Parwez were present with Siddaramaiah at the meeting with KSCA.