'Waiting for govt funds, contractors have mortgaged their houses’: R Manjunath

Shivamogga: From delayed payment to rising cost of construction materials, contractors have been facing a host of problems plunging them in to financial distress, said the president of Karnataka State Contractors Association R Manjunath in Shivamogga on Saturday.

Manjunath was participating in a preliminary meeting convened by the Malenadu Contractors Association ahead of the demonstration planned at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on March 5.

He lamented the failure on the chief minister’s part to convene an official meeting of the office-bearers of the Karnataka State Contractors Association, ministers and department secretaries for the past two-and-a-half years.

“The meeting was scheduled two to three times but was postponed without any reason,” said Manjunath.

Delay on the part of the government in settling pending bills – some bills have been unpaid for years on end – has put medium and small contractors under immense pressure. “Increase in interests on bank loans has compounded our woes. Many contractors have had to mortgage their houses, properties and jewellery as they wait for money from the government,” rued Manjunath.