Pics: Daya Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (DV)

Mangalore, Jul 18: Bharath Ship Contractor Association held a protest against the firm for not sanctioning the bill, which is due from the past 6 months. The protest was held at the Bharath Ship Yard in Taneeru Bavi, here on Wednesday July 17.

Addressing the protest organized by Bharath Ship Contractor Association, Deviprasad Shetty , the President of the Bharath Ship Contractor Association said, “From the past 4 years, this firm is working on construction of ships, but the firm has not sanctioned the bill to the contractors from past 6 months. Earlier there were 3000 laborers working for 35 various contractors, but now the number has reduced to just 750 labors. Contractors are not able to pay wages to the laborers due to delay in sanction of bills to the contractors.”

He also stated that the association had held a protest in November 2012 against the firm’s inability of sanctioning the bills on the due date, as a result of which the company’s officials had agreed to sanction the bills on time. They kept up to their words for merely two months, after which have returned to their old tendency of delaying the sanction of the bill.

Further, Shetty strongly commented, “The bills of several contractors in various fields like Blasting, Painting, Piping, Hall department, Cleaning department, Furniture department and 12 other department bills are unpaid. We will not stop our agitation till our six month’ bills get sanctioned and the chief of the firm comes to discuss about this problem.”

Deviraj, vice president of the Bharath ship contractor association was also present at the occasion along with Nithesh, Shamlal, Chauhan.