Contractors’ federation threatens state-wide protest against procurement policy
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Perturbed by the revised Uttarakhand Procurement Regulations under the Standard Bidding Document (SBD) issued on June 30, 2025 by the State government, the Uttarakhand Contractors Joint Federation, an association of the contractors of the State has threatened to hold a protest march to the residence of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on December 9.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, the acting president of federation, Manoj Panwar alleged that the new tendering system is structured to favour the contractors of other states over local firms.
He said that the amended procurement rules — including revised bid capacity formulas, additional performance securities, cluster tendering, and CA-based verification — will eliminate local employment opportunities and push small and medium contractors out of competition.
Panwar stated that mandatory penalty clauses and escalated compliance requirements have made the policy practically restrictive for local participants and alleged that the reforms undermine fair access to state contracts.
He added, “We fought for a separate State of Uttarakhand so people here could progress, but today employment is being taken away instead of being created. If these rules are not withdrawn, we will not stay silent.”
The federation has given a deadline of five days to the government to withdraw the revised provisions. It has threatened to launch a state-wide protest and March to the residence of CM on December 9 if no action is taken within the deadline.
Those present during the briefing included State president of federation Sanjay Prokayal, district president (Chamoli) Harsh Vandana Sharma and others were present on the occasion.
