Itanagar: The All Arunachal Contractor’s Welfare Association (AACWA) has appealed to chief minister Pema Khandu to hold talks with the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to split its tender packages to smaller amounts for the benefit of state-based contractors.
The AACWA in a representation submitted to the chief minister’s office on Thursday said that much of the construction work of the railways gets completed on time due to the involvement of local sub-contractors.
In its appeal, it said that railway authorities invite tenders that are beyond the eligibility of the state’s Class-l contractors since their tendering limit is Rs 30 crore.
It added that “in the development process the involvement of local contractors can be of help in the timely completion of projects because they can easily avail materials for construction works”. The AACWA said that many projects under the NHIDCL are executed through local subcontractors and due to the active involvement of local contractors that projects are almost going to be completed and some projects are in full swing whereas main bidders are from outside the state.
“Since contractors are from outside the state, they quote the tender without knowing the actual site where work is going to be executed,” it said.
In another appeal, it accused some government officials including those in the civil secretariat of “unnecessary keeping files at their table for long periods”.
The AACWA said that the government had introduced the e-office system for faster file processing, allowing for files to be viewed & signed from anywhere as long as there is internet connectivity.
“But few secretaries and officers keep e-file at their table for long periods without processing them,” it said, adding that the delay in file movement has a direct effect on the developmental activities in the state.
It said that the state government should give “clear-cut direction to all the officers and staff that file movement should be processed timely”.
