Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has blamed contractors for swelling pending bills, saying tenders were floated without budgetary provisions and then the works were completed.Dismissing the contractors’ allegations that state officials demand money, the chief minister said no one should either pay or receive bribes.Siddaramaiah also said that he never took a certain percentage of money as commission for clearing bills or releasing money to the contractors. Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Siddaramaiah said the contractors’ association met him and put forth their demand to clear half of their dues.”The contractors told me that Rs 30,000 crore was pending and asked me to pay them Rs 15,000 crore by April. I said that cannot be done, and I will pay whatever is possible,” the chief minister said.Asked about the contractors saying they would meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to get their dues cleared, Siddaramaiah said he had no objection to their meeting but he has to first see the financial condition of the state before paying them their dues.”The tenders were invited without budgetary allocations. The contractors participated in the process, the contracts were finalised, and the work started. That’s how the pending bills accumulated. Are we responsible for it,” the chief minister asked.”Let them complain to whoever they want. We have to see our financial condition first. We don’t have any intention to decline their payments,” Siddaramaiah added. On the contractors’ allegation that ‘commission’ system was prevalent in the state with officials often demanding certain percentage of money, Siddaramaiah said the contractors should not pay any bribe to the officials.”No one should take bribe. I never took any percentage of money for clearing bills or releasing money,” the chief minister said. According to Siddaramaiah, not only the person who accepts bribe is a criminal, but also the one who pays it.After the meeting with the chief minister, the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association (KSCA) alleged that the corruption prevailing now was more than what existed during the previous BJP government.Corruption charges helped the opposition Congress launch the ’40 per cent commission’ allegation in Karnataka in 2023, which finally led to the ouster of the BJP. KSCA president R Manjunath claimed before reporters that officials were harassing them to clear the bills.He also said the contractors will meet Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to flag the corruption prevailing in the state and the harassment they are facing. Ahead of presenting his 16th state Budget on March 7, Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, chaired a business advisory committee meeting on Monday.He later told reporters that along with the Congress, the opposition BJP and the JD(S) also attended the meeting. Sira Congress MLA T B Jayachandra will initiate discussions on the governor’s address in the assembly on Tuesday, which will go on till Thursday, Siddaramaiah said.The discussions on Budget will start next Tuesday (March 11) and go on till March 19. “On March 20, I will reply to the discussions on the Budget in the legislative council,” Siddaramaiah said. When told that people have high expectations from the Budget, the chief minister said they should wait till March 7. “The (Budget) document is secret till it is presented. Till then we cannot say what is there in it,” Siddaramaiah said.
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