DMRC accused of non-payment
The authorities, however, hold that the suppliers are barking up the wrong tree.
A number of independent suppliers of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) have alleged non-payment of dues by the corporation in relation to its Pink line project for the past two and a half years. The suppliers have now been sitting on a dharna opposite Mayur Vihar Phasei metro station for last 104 days asking the DMRC authorities to release their long pending payment amounting to Rs 13 crore against the raw materials supplied by them.
The agitating suppliers told The Sunday Guardian that the initial contract of Project CC-18 was awarded to Femcpratibha JV but the contract was terminated mid-way for some reason one and a half year ago. The reason behind termination of the contract could not be known despite several efforts as there was no response from Femc-pratibha JV officials on the matter.
Speaking to this newspaper, Izhar Chowdhary, one of the 51 suppliers whose supplies have gone unpaid, said, “Chief Project Manager (CPM)-3 of Project CC-18 Mr Ashwini Kumar had previously assured us about releasing our payments once DMRC realises the bank guarantee of Rs 108 crore by Pratibha. But though the Pink line metro became operational months ago, we still haven’t received our dues.”
The suppliers claimed that “the DMRC has already realised the bank guarantee on 4 September 2018” but still delaying their payments.
Responding to the allegation, Mohinder Yadav, who is a part of the corporate communications department at DMRC, stated that the DMRC does not deal with the sub-contractors directly. “We go through the main contractor and the work is done according to the tender given to the hired contractor company. Further, if any issue arises we can’t help directly, we can only create a pressure to resolve the issue.”
DMRC is accused of delaying payments and dilly-dallying with the suppliers since October 2018 without giving a definite date for clearing the dues. “It’s been almost three years that I haven’t received any payment for the materials I had supplied to the tune of Rs 40 lakh. This has affected my business and family a lot. It’s been over 90 days that I am coming here every day for the dharna but so far it has been a futile exercise,” lamented R.P. Dalmia, another aggrieved suppliers.
“We tried to reach the concerned ministers and authorities through letters. So far, we have sent letters to Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, Transport Minister of Delhi Kailash Gahlot and DMRC Managing Director Dr Mangu Singh, but unfortunately haven’t received any responses from anyone,” added Chowdhary.
The entire scenario casts a blanket of uncertainty over the future of these suppliers as DMRC, while delaying payments for one project, has seemingly cleared dues of project CC-23 (metro line from Hauz Khas to Kalkaji) after its suppliers held a similar dharna for 72 days.
“It is very shameful that I have to sit on dharna for my money. I want to ask as to why DMRC is delaying the payments even after realising the bank guarantee and harassing us every day,” said B.K. Sharma, a plywood supplier waiting for his Rs 41 Lakh.
DMRC officials told The Sunday Guardian that they are aware about the agitation. However, they sought to clarify that the agitators were not directly hired by the corporation but are a section of the vendors and material suppliers hired by one of its main contractors, Femcpratibha JV. Hence, they cannot do anything in the matter as it is a dispute between the company and its suppliers.
“We would like to clarify that none of these agencies have been directly hired by DMRC for any work in Project CC-18 which was awarded to Femc-pratibha JV. Accordingly, DMRC does not have any type of contractual relationship in this regard and is therefore not liable for payment of any of these dues. In fact, the contractor has already been directed many times to settle their issues with these agencies.” The Centres’ move asking the Supreme Court to return the undisputed land to the owners in Ayodhya, has made the Congress worried about the Ram temple issue influencing Hindu votes in Uttar Pradesh. Though the Congress officially is maintaining that it is for the Supreme Court to consider the Narendra Modi government’s application, but privately it is keeping its fingers crossed on the potential outcome of the development. Congress’ spokesman and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi told The Sunday Guardian that it was for the people and the country to judge the government intent behind making such an application to the SC right on Lok Sabha poll eve.“a status quo on the site has been maintained for 16 years since 31 March 2003,” points out Singhvi. Pakistan has a first Hindu woman judge, Suman Kumari. She has been appointed as a civil judge in Qambar-shahdadkot in Sindh province. Kumari says that she has entered the field of law “because I know that in the backward areas of Sindh, poor people need a lot of advice and assistance in legal matters. In our community, it is not easy for women to enter such professions.” Her father, Dr Pawan Kumar Bodan is an eye specialist.
Pakistan’s first judge from the Hindu community was Justice Rana Bhagwandas, who served as the acting Chief Justice for brief periods between 2005 and 2007. In 2018, Mahesh Kumar Malani became the first non-muslim to be elected on a general seat in the National Assembly, while a Thari woman, Krishna Kumari, was elected in Pakistan’s Senate elections.