Over Rs 10 crore bills pending for Assembly election works

HYDERABAD: Contractors who set up poll-related infrastructure for the concluded Telangana state Assembly elections from 15 constituencies of Hyderabad district said over Rs 10 crore of bills were pending.

They said that work was allotted through tenders to about 50 contractors, with the lowest bidders allotted the job for DRC centres. They had completed the jobs in a satisfactory manner and submitted the bills but the, payments were pending.

Contractors said they gave multiple representations to state and district elections officers seeking payment, but to no avail.

Rajesh Lahoti, one of the contractors, said, “The authorities are seeking commission from us; that is the reason these bills are not cleared. The amount was already released by the Election Commission of India. Clearly, the authorities are sitting over the files.”

He said, “We request the district election officer to release the funds as earliest, it will make it possible for us to take part in the tenders for the coming up Lok Sabha elections in 2024.”