Negotiation trade goes berserk , contractors hapless playthings before the ‘Mandal’ tax and extortion rackets

The plethora of contract works on the basis of tenders floated by the PWD department seem to have reached the brink of collapse because of the organised extortion rackets run by the ‘Mandals’ in PWD divisions across the state in general and Agartala in particular. The situation is such that registered and bona fide contractors can not even enter the PWD offices for signing agreement , drawing papers related to security deposits or for drawing payments for works executed earlier. “The activists of the ‘Mandal’ suspect that in the name of signing papers the contractors can drop tenders for new works and drive them away; there is no relief even for contractors who work at less than notified rates of the PWD department” said a registered contractor. He added that there are instances where bona