Bhubaneswar: The state government, Tuesday, constituted a 7-member inter-ministerial committee to look into the demands of protesting All Odisha Contractors’ Association.
Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari has been appointed as chairman of the committee while Works Minister Prafulla Mallick, Law Minister Pratap Jena, Revenue Minister Sudam Marndi, Labour & Employees’ State Insurance Minister Susanta Singh and Water Resources Minister Raghunandan Das are the other members of the panel. Works secretary Krishan Kumar is the convener.
Last month, the association had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for fulfilment of their 10-point charter of demands. The Chief Minister later directed the authorities to form an inter-ministerial committee to address the demands of the contractor. The issue was also raised in the Assembly during the winter session.
The demands of the Association include introduction of standard data block, withdrawal of the cut-off rate of 14.99 per cent in all government projects, 10 per cent of dues for GST in line with Telangana and introduction of the tender rules of the Central government.