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Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Jal Jeevan Mission contractor dies by suicide over ₹1.40 cr dues from govt
MUMBAI: A thirty-five-year-old government contractor from Walwa tehsil, in Sangli district, who was working for the state government's Jal Jeevan Mission, died by suicide on Wednesday, allegedly as his pending dues of ₹1.40 crore were yet to be cleared by the government. The Sangli-based contractor had gone missing since Tuesday night, and his body was found in his farm on Wednesday. According to Vikram Patil, assistant police inspector from Kurlap police station, Walwa, he died by hanging himself to a branch of a tree. (Representative Image) While farmers' suicides have defined the state's agrarian crisis for over three decades, this is the first time that a government contractor was driven to take his life due to financial distress. (According to state government data, between January and April 2025, 869 farmers died by suicide across Maharashtra.) HT had reported on July 8 how the state's ambitious push to reach clean tap water to every household under the Jal Jeevan Mission had hit a roadblock as the central government had decided to withdraw its grant for the scheme. As a result of this, the state is now bearing the burden of the full cost of all ongoing projects and future works. It comes at a time when the state government is already struggling to clear pending bills worth ₹12,000 crore for completed projects. The ripple effect of paucity of funds in the state's purse has been felt by the government contractors for a year now, leading to protests in several quarters. The total outstanding amount due to contractors is around ₹90,000 crore which includes dues by the Public Works Department (PWD) of around ₹46,000 crore, Jal Jeevan Mission ₹12,000 crore, Rural Development Department ₹8600 crore etc. To add to the woes, the central government has not contributed to the Jal Jeevan Mission fund in Maharashtra since October 2024 – the state government informed this in a written reply to a question regarding Jal Jeevan Mission during the recently concluded monsoon session of the legislature. While raising alarm over pending dues since February 2025, Milind Bhosale, president of the Maharashtra State Contractors' Association and Avinash Patil, former president of Builders Association Of India, said 'the burden of pending bills may drive many contractors to the fate of desperate farmers'. The Sangli-based contractor had gone missing since Tuesday night, and his body was found in his farm on Wednesday. According to Vikram Patil, assistant police inspector from Kurlap police station, Walwa, he died by hanging himself to a branch of a tree. The deceased lived with his wife, a five-year-old daughter, two younger brothers and his parents. Patil said: 'A case of accidental death has been registered in connection with the incident. While no suicide note has been found so far, investigations are on.' 'He was a government contractor who worked on the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme and suffered a financial crisis as his bills of completed work to the tune of ₹1.40 crore were pending with the government. Given the delay, he was compelled to take a loan of around ₹65 lakh from money lenders to run his business,' said Bhosale. 'After the incident, a relative told us that he was under duress. He had shared with his friends that he was sandwiched between money lenders knocking at his door to recover the loan and the government not paying the bills.' He added, 'This has been our fear (for all contractors) for a year. If the government does not take this death seriously, many more individuals may choose this path.' Gulabrao Patil, minister of water supply and sanitation, which runs the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme, said he was yet to receive any report on the contractor's suicide, 'but will inquire about it'. About the funds crunch, Patil said, 'We have sent a proposal to the finance department to release funds to clear the pending dues of contractors. We hope to receive it soon.' Veteran NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil, who belongs to Walwa, held the state government responsible for the contractor's death. 'Thousands of contractors like him kept trust in the state government and worked for the scheme. The Mahayuti government awarded contracts for various works to win elections, despite having no funds. This young contractor died by suicide as the governmnet did not pay his bills,' said Patil.
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Business Standard
05-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Maha govt owes ₹89,000 cr to contractors, 500K await dues since July 2023
Contractors involved in infrastructure and development projects for the Maharashtra government have claimed that dues amounting to ₹89,000 crore have remained unpaid to them for over a year, news agency PTI reported. Seeking urgent intervention, they initiated a state-wide protest on Friday, submitting appeals to district collectors across 30 districts. Milind Bhosale, president of the Maharashtra State Contractor Mahasangh, told PTI that the protest was organised in coordination with two other bodies — the Builders Association of India and the Maharashtra State Engineers Forum. These three organisations have jointly made representations to the state government seeking prompt disbursal of the overdue payments. Dues pending since July last year The pending payments relate to a wide range of government-commissioned projects, including road construction and repairs, building maintenance, and relief and rehabilitation work. Bhosale said that the dues have been outstanding since July 2023. 'A total of 500,000 contractors are yet to receive the promised payments even after delivering on the work,' he said. The unpaid amounts range from ₹1 lakh to ₹20 crore per contractor or entity. The prolonged delay in payments has put enormous financial pressure on contractors, Bhosale said, adding that many have been unable to clear dues to their suppliers and pay salaries to employees. 'This is leading to a lot of stress for all of us. We have not been able to pay our suppliers and employees, which is bound to impact the overall economic growth in the state,' he told PTI. Work orders surged before polls According to Bhosale, the volume of development work announced during FY24 rose tenfold. With Assembly elections scheduled for October 2024, the government had also issued a large number of work orders. "One budget and two supplementary demands have been presented, but our dues continue to be pending," he said, questioning the rationale behind initiating projects without ensuring adequate financial provisioning. He pointed out that, under standard procedure, payments are to be released quarterly in accordance with predefined milestones — a timeline the government has failed to follow. 'Ladki Bahin' scheme continues despite crunch Bhosale criticised the state for continuing with other big-ticket expenditures like the Ladki Bahin Yojana, for which ₹36,000 crore has been allocated in the FY26 budget, even as contractor payments remain stalled. 'Contractors and small enterprises are the second biggest sector in Maharashtra after agriculture. Dozens of people are linked to every entity, and not paying us will have a deep economic impact,' he said. He said the associations have reached out to a few ministers, including Girish Mahajan, but have so far been unable to secure a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to resolve the issue. (With agency inputs)
Scroll.in
05-06-2025
- Business
- Scroll.in
Maharashtra contractors warn of state-wide protest if Rs 80,000 crore dues not paid
An association of contractors working with Maharashtra government departments has warned of a state-wide protest if the authorities do not release dues of over Rs 80,000 crore by June 10, CNBC-TV18 reported on Thursday. The Maharashtra Contractors Association, which claims to represent about three lakh members in 35 districts of the state, plans to launch a mass awareness campaign and a large-scale protest if the government does not meet the deadline for payments. 'The government has chosen to remain silent, but we will not,' the association's president Milind Bhosale told CNBC-TV18. 'If needed, we will take this agitation to every corner of Maharashtra.' The association has claimed that payments to the tune of Rs 38,000 crore are pending from the state public works department, Rs 6,500 crore from the rural development department, Rs 12,000 crore from the water conservation and water resources department and Rs 4,217 crore from the urban development department. Bhosale said the association has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against the rural development department, CNBC-TV18 reported. He added that if its demands are not met by June 10, it will file another petition against the public works department. 'We wrote to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis again a couple of days ago,' he told the channel. 'But still, there is no sign of us getting our money.' In February, the contractors had gone on strike for a week to protest the dues. They had alleged that the government had not paid them since July last year, although it was allocating money for initiatives like the Ladki Bahin Scheme for monthly payments to women, The Times of India reported. At the time, Maharashtra Public Works Department Minister Shivendraraje Bhosle said he had asked for Rs 10,000 crore to be released at the earliest for the contractors, according to The Indian Express. 'I have spoken to the chief minister and finance minister,' the minister had told the newspaper. 'Both are positive regarding the demands raised by contractors. The government is positive about our demand of Rs 10,000 crore to be released at the earliest.'
