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PR Newswire
07-10-2010, 12:33 PM
Effective contract and liaison have been established with the institutions and organizations engaged in housing development and building construction work. Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) like Cost Ford located in Trivandrum have been striving for building up an information System that will be of great use for the public over a long period of time.
The concept of contracting and sub-contracting has been introduced to ensure a level playing field for everyone. This approach helped to bring transparency into the system. Not only that, there was no room for allegations involving favoritism towards one party or group. Any one can apply to get a contract and only the best competitive bid will be selected.
There is much criticism regarding this approach and now development experts are lobbying with the government to affect drastic changes in the rules and regulations governing contract work. The builders in Kerala were also clamoring for a change since long time back. The main problem with the present system is that the contractor who wins a contract actually gets it not due to his credentials but due to political favoritism and interference from high places. Many a time, the leading contractors pay a portion of the amount as bribe to the people in high places.
As some experts have mentioned, a major change can be effected only when the contractor who undertakes the building work is forced to be accountable for the work undertaken by him. As in other countries, he is duty bound to provide guarantee for the work done by him. In addition, he should rectify any damage or other deformity in the infrastructure or building developed by him. Now once a construction work is completed, there is no proper quality check and the contractor is paid the entire amount irrespective of the lack of quality in the work undertaken. Thus, major problems have now arisen in the government owned infrastructure projects due to poor workmanship.
The concept of contracting and sub-contracting has been introduced to ensure a level playing field for everyone. This approach helped to bring transparency into the system. Not only that, there was no room for allegations involving favoritism towards one party or group. Any one can apply to get a contract and only the best competitive bid will be selected.
There is much criticism regarding this approach and now development experts are lobbying with the government to affect drastic changes in the rules and regulations governing contract work. The builders in Kerala were also clamoring for a change since long time back. The main problem with the present system is that the contractor who wins a contract actually gets it not due to his credentials but due to political favoritism and interference from high places. Many a time, the leading contractors pay a portion of the amount as bribe to the people in high places.
As some experts have mentioned, a major change can be effected only when the contractor who undertakes the building work is forced to be accountable for the work undertaken by him. As in other countries, he is duty bound to provide guarantee for the work done by him. In addition, he should rectify any damage or other deformity in the infrastructure or building developed by him. Now once a construction work is completed, there is no proper quality check and the contractor is paid the entire amount irrespective of the lack of quality in the work undertaken. Thus, major problems have now arisen in the government owned infrastructure projects due to poor workmanship.