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Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) State spokesperson Putha Siva Shankar stated that the coalition government is functioning as a "commission-driven regime," favouring large corporate contractors while pushing small contractors into severe financial distress on Thursday.
Addressing the media at the YSRCP central office in Tadepalli, he said the government is making rapid payments in crores to big contractors under the guise of mobilisation advances, while small contractors are being denied payments for months. He pointed out that in the Rural Water Supply (RWS) department alone, bills have not been cleared for over 16 months, forcing contractors to take to the streets in protest. Despite pending dues of around Rs. 850 crore to small contractors, the government has released barely 10%--about Rs. 85.88 crore, while clearing recent bills of corporate firms within just 20 days. He further claimed that out of Rs. 707 crore released this week in the name of RWS works, Rs. 562 crore was paid as mobilisation advances to corporate contractors, exposing clear bias. Putha Siva Shankar also questioned how the government, which has borrowed over Rs. 3.37 lakh crore in just 21 months despite cancelling welfare schemes and failing to implement new ones, is utilising these funds. He stated that payments are being prioritised based on commission potential, with contractors claiming they are unable to retain even 1% profit while being pressured to pay up to 7% commissions. An official press release also stated that he also accused the government of large-scale irregularities in sanitation contracts across government hospitals and medical colleges, where tenders are allegedly awarded to favoured agencies. Though rules mandate full payment only if 95% staff attendance is recorded through the Facial Recognition System (FRS), he said agencies linked to the ruling establishment are receiving full payments even with as low as 65% attendance due to oral instructions, he added. He claimed that Rs. 14 crore in sanitation bills and Rs. 8 crore in security bills were cleared under such questionable conditions, and specifically alleged that Padmavathi Agency, linked to a relative of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, received full payments despite only 61% FRS attendance. He termed the entire system a deliberate scheme to maximise commissions at the cost of transparency and fairness. (ANI)
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