Stone crusher owners and contractors resolve dispute

Pic: , the MLA of Koppal, held a meeting with the protesting members of the District Association on the evening of Oct 16, in the meeting hall at Kuda, KoppalKoppal: A dispute between and district contractors was amicably resolved on the evening of Oct 16, following demands for the exclusive sourcing of construction materials from the Prerana Agency owned by .The District Contractors Association submitted petitions to the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her recent visit to the district, as well as to the chief minister, the district minister, all MLAs from the district, including Dr Suresh B Hitnal, and the deputy commissioner of Koppal, seeking a resolution to the issue. The district unit of the BJP also submitted a petition to the FM about this.In their request, on behalf of contractors, Suresh Bhumareddy, president, claimed that all crusher owners and contractors in the district have been collaborating until now. However, MP Rajashekar Hitnal has formed an organisation called Prerana Agency and has brought all the crusher owners in the district under his purview. Consequently, he has forced the public and contractors to acquire crusher material exclusively through his agency, he said.The main contention was that the monopoly established by the agency prevented contractors and the public from accessing their preferred crusher owners to obtain necessary materials at competitive prices. The agency was able to set material prices and mandated full payment in advance, eliminating credit options. Additionally, contractors were required to pay an agency commission on a tonnage basis.MP K Rajashekar Hitnal defended the arrangement as a single-window system. However, the protesting contractors alleged that it was a tactic to monopolise the market, which is illegal under the Competition Act 2002, and infringed on consumers' rights to source materials from their chosen suppliers.The contractors' association strongly opposed the monopoly in the crusher business and insisted on reinstating the previous system.Following the escalation of the situation, in the absence of MP Rajasekhar Hitnal, his elder brother and MLA K Raghavendra Hitnal convened a meeting of the District Contractors Association office bearers on the evening of Oct 16. Raghavendra Hitnal agreed to their demands, and the previous system was reinstated.The meeting was attended by the office bearers of the District Contractors Association, led by its president Suresh Bhumareddy, secretary Devappa Arakeri, and senior contractors.