Vijayawada: Hundreds of small and medium-scale contractors involved in rural drinking water pipeline works under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) have intensified their protest against the Andhra Pradesh government, alleging severe discrimination in the release of pending bills worth crores of rupees. More than 750 MSME contractors claimed they have been waiting for payments for nearly 20 months despite completing works for the Panchayat Raj Department. Contractors on Tuesday staged a protest at Dharna Chowk in the city, demanding Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and CM Chandrababu Naidu's attention to the issue.
Allegations of Fund Diversion
The contractors alleged that while the Central and state government together released over Rs 1,331 crore towards JJM payments after November 2024, a major share of the funds was diverted to large corporate companies. According to the contractors, only Rs 280 crore was released to MSME contractors during the 2025-26 financial year, while project contractors and corporate firms reportedly received around Rs 932 crore.
Recent Payment Disparities
The issue escalated further after the state government released Rs 707 crore on March 21 towards pending JJM dues. Of this, contractors alleged that Rs 562 crore was allocated to corporate firms, including mobilisation advances, while only Rs 103 crore was distributed among 442 MSME contractors, amounting to barely 10% of their pending dues. The aggrieved contractors staged a weeklong protest from March 25 to 31 at the RWS&S engineer-in-chief's office in Vijayawada, demanding immediate clearance of bills. They said officials assured them that payments would be released by April 10, but no significant progress was made even by mid-April, forcing them to submit fresh representations to the government.
Concerns Over New Payment System
Contractors also expressed concern over the transition to the new SNA SPARSH payment system under JJM 2.0 guidelines. Officials reportedly asked contractors to re-upload bills submitted over the past 18 months, while simultaneously admitting that procedural guidelines were still unclear.
Financial Distress and Appeals
Many contractors said they are now drowning in debt after borrowing heavily to execute the works. Some alleged that the prolonged uncertainty and mounting financial burden have pushed several contractors to the brink of suicide. The protesters appealed to Pawan Kalyan to personally intervene and ensure pending bills worth Rs 1,166 crore are cleared immediately under the FIFO (first-in-first-out) system without further delays or repeated scrutiny.
