Builders' Association boycott govt contracts

They wanted government to increase its rate proportionate to the increase in the cost of construction materials. Association President Murugan said there should be unity among the builders in boycotting government works till their demand was met.

Former Association President V.Ramachandran said construction of 105 bridges in Tamil Nadu had been affected due to steep escalation in the cost of construction materials and labour charges.

 

He wanted the age-old contract conditions to be modified and made market-driven. As per a rough estimate thousands of projects in each state had been held up due to the price increase.There was no escalation clause leading to financial loss for the contractors.

The recent amendments brought in the Tamil Nadu Government contract conditions were not practical.In Tamil nadu alone 2000 projects had been heldup due to this, he said. In many cases of  abandoned projects,the award given by the court was much more than the claim of the contractors, he said.

The growth of construction work which was 16.5 per cent three years back was down to nine per cent.The Railway works accounted for 90 per cent of the works but now they were held up due to escalation in cost, he said.

Vice president Pugazhendran said that even for building a 2150 sqft house,one should go to Chennai to get the approval.This was causing hardship to the people.The Builders' Association played a major role in bringing down the price of the steel from Rs.51000 a tonne to rs.39000 a tonne, he claimed.