Railway contractors' association IRIPA on Wednesday threatened to go on a nationwide tool-down strike on March 6, claiming that bills amounting to nearly Rs 25,000 crore are yet to be cleared by the national transporter.
At a press conference here, IRIPA vice president Mahesh Kumar said the contractors will observe the token strike across the country and a further decision will be taken as the situation arises.
Without payment, no construction work will continue in the railways, he said.
Kumar said the Indian Railway Infrastructure Providers Association (IRIPA) has been urging the railways for a long time to resolve the issue of pending bills but no relief has been granted.
He said that the IRIPA wrote to the Railway Board chairman on the issue on February 29, but the contractors were told that budget provisions have fully been utilised and no more funds exist.
"The department is insisting us to carry on the work without releasing any further payments," he claimed.
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The bills raised by the members of the association are withheld citing non-availability of funds, IRIPA secretary Pawan Bharatiya alleged.
"Small contractors who have undertaken contracts for repair and maintenance works are suffering due to non-payment of their outstanding bills," he said.
"Due to such non-payment, the contractors will have no other option but to stop the day-to-day works that may compromise the safety of train operations...," Bharatiya said.
If the association is compelled to go for the strike, its members who have contracts related to sanitary and laundry works, and involved in operations of revenue nature will join in and even those contractors who have been paid will show their solidarity by joining the strike, he claimed.
The members of the IRIPA are engaged by subsidiaries of the Indian Railways and other related organisations for the execution of work contracts of capital nature, Kumar said.