Contractor’s association threatens protest, work stoppage if govt does not act against corrupt practices

By NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Karnataka State Contractor’s Associaton (KSCA) on Wednesday threatened to stage a protest against the state government, adding that they would also stop work from May 25.

The group said that they would expose ministers and lawmakers in the state government if there was no proper response. The announcements were made to media persons after the KSCA executive meeting.

KSCA president D Kempanna said: “We will stage a huge protest on May 25 in Bengaluru, in which 50,000 contractors from all over the state will participate. After this, we will stop works across the state.” Kempanna was the one who famously made the 40 per cent commission charge against the state government.

The KSCA president insisted that he wanted a dialogue with the state government to combat corruption in public works. “If they (government) don’t respond positively to us in 15 days, we will come back here to this very room and expose (evidence of corruption) of some five to six ministers and 20 MLAs,” Kempanna said. He had written to the PM’s office in July, complaining about exorbitant bribes being demanded from contractors.

He said that the CM’s office was also involved in corrupt dealings. “I’ve never seen a CM like him. He remains silent (about these problems) even after we visited him five or six times,” he added. Kempanna even alleged that state ministers, including health minister Dr Sudhakar had been handing over more than 60 per cent of the government projects to their family members under bogus names. On Santosh Patil’s death, he said: “He (Eshwarappa) should be sent to jail immediately. He is responsible for the contractor’s death.”