Coimbatore Corporation Contractors’ Welfare Association said that it would move the Madras High Court against the State Government for a direction to implement a few of their demands.
Addressing reporters here recently, the Association members said that they had earlier moved the Court for a direction to the Government. Based on the Court order, the Public Works Department Secretary S.K. Prabakar convened a meeting to hear their suggestions or grievances.
It had urged the Government to include Employees State Insurance and Employees Provident Fund charges in the Schedule of Rate (the basis on which various government departments arrive at cost of works for floating tender), bear the cost of seigniorage and toll charges, pay for the labour welfare fund, fix minimum contractor profit at 10% and a few others.
The Government had agreed to a few demands and that included directions to Assistant Directors of Mines in districts to identify new quarries with good yields and delete low-yielding quarries for blue metals so that distance and transport charges could be reworked.
The Government had also clarified that it bore the cost of labour welfare fund and did not deduct from the contract amount and agreed to make provisions for repairing damaged roads (patches) before levelling those for a fresh coat of bitumen.
The Association said that the Government had, however, rejected their demand for its departments bearing the seigniorage charges and toll fee saying it was contractors’ responsibility and that the bid that they submitted for works ought to include such costs.
For those of its demands that the Government had not conceded, the Association said it would move the court.
The Association also spoke about the problems they faced from people masquerading as Right to Information Act activists. In the guise of seeking information of public interest, a few people sought personal information. And then they used the information to blackmail its members, the Association said and added that to face such activists, the Association would initiate action.
In response to questions from reporters, the Association's secretary K. Chandraprakash denied that he was related to Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani and added that he would file criminal defamation suits against those media organisations and activists who tried to link his firm with the Minister.