Jaipur: A token strike by contractors appointed by the public health engineering department (PHED) disrupted water supply in parts of rural Rajasthan Wednesday, the first day of their protest, and officials warned the situation could worsen if the contractors’ association begins an indefinite strike from Sunday.Om Prakash Bishnoi, president of the association’s Sangharsh Samiti, said the contractors had given the govt time till Saturday because civic polls are underway. Until then, they will withdraw manpower for three hours, from 9 am to noon.“But if our dues are not cleared by Saturday, we will go for the full-fledged strike from Sunday. We are left with no options rather than to withdraw our manpower. All employees of most of the agencies have not received salaries for months. Many of them had switched to other jobs,” stated Bishnoi.The agencies had pending dues of Rs 4,500 crore for Jal Jeevan Mission projects. The govt paid about Rs 2,000 crore in two instalments in July, but contractors say large arrears remain. They also cite another Rs 500 crore overdue for operation and maintenance works.“We also have an uncalculated overdue for JJM projects. The government has also not cleared the current payments since June, when the overdue was Rs 4,500 crores,” stated another member of the association.PHED officials said Wednesday’s protest lasted only three hours and did not cause a major breakdown. Jal Jeevan Mission supply was delayed in a few pockets before the department restored it.“However, a full-fledged strike would have an immense impact. The operations and maintenance jobs of most projects, including the filter plant of the Bisalpur supply in Surajpura, are outsourced to these agencies. Even several supply offices have a majority of outsourced employees,” an official added.
