Unlisted maintenance works stalled by EC

Thiruvananthapuram: In what could be seen as a lapse on the part of the authorities, even the maintenance works, contract of which were signed before the Model Code of Conduct came into force, were stalled in the State as the list of ongoing works and the works for which the contracts were already signed was not handed over to the Election Commission within 72 hours of the declaration of the election. 

The stalled works include that of the Public Works Department, Water Authority and Local Self Government Institutions. Over thousands of maintenance works have been held up as they were not listed. On the previous day, a notice was issued to the Kozhikode Corporation secretary in connection with a road construction, citing Model Code violation. That work had not been listed.  

The works stopped thus were supposed to be completed before the onset of monsoon. Usually, most of the repair works are carried out between February and mid-May. The contractors pointed out that the works cannot be resumed in the rains as the model code will be in effect till June. 

The contractors’ unions had written to the Election Commission seeking permission for the signed works. However, the response was that a nod cannot be given to all of the works, and that each work has to be considered separately. 

The government move is to resolve the issue by sending the list of signed works and under-construction works to the Commission through the chief secretary. Over 100 works in various departments were hit by this in Kozhikode alone. The contractors have filed a complaint in this regard with the District Collector.

Meanwhile, the All Government Contractors Federation State general secretary P Nagaratnam said inclusion of signed works under the model code never occurred before. The contractors will also have to pay the fine for the delay in signed works, he added.