Transparency & harmony among contractors & engg officials needed

Hyderabad: Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar on Monday stressed on the need to have transparency and harmony among contractors and officials of the engineering wings.

He said the role of engineers was crucial in the creation of country's wealth, while speaking addressing the Telangana and AP Engineers and Contractors' Conference on 'Engineering Contracts - Avoidance of Dispute for Harmonious Growth' at Visvesvaraya Bhavan here. The conference was jointly organised by the Institute of Engineers (India) and the Indian Institution of Technical Arbitrators.

Kumar said there was a risk of conflict if there was no consensus and proper understanding among the contractors and the engineering departments. He said engineering contractors were playing a major role in structures like projects, buildings, roads and bridges in the State. Development work would go on smoothly if there was proper planning and understanding among the contractors and officers of engineering departments. He reminded that the construction sector was the second largest employer in the country, after agriculture.

Kumar explained that disputes worth around Rs 1 lakh crore were being heard in various courts across the country due to lack of transparency and understanding between the engineering department officials and contractors. He assured that the government would extend full cooperation to solve the problems of engineering contractors and achieving understanding with the engineering authorities.

Institute of Engineers (India) State president Brahma Reddy, secretary Venkata Subbayya, Kaleshwaram (irrigation) Engineer-in-Chief Venkateshwarlu, Indian Institution of Technical Arbitrators Telugu States chairman Sridhar Mote, secretary Pradeep Reddy, Telangana, AP States' engineers, contractors and others attended.