NAGPUR: After executing poor quality works for years, the contractors of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) have apparently started feeling that honesty is the best policy. Their union has unanimously decided to expose contractors who do substandard jobs.

Vijay Nayudu, president of NMC Contractors' Welfare Association (NCWA), said that the contractors who wanted to execute quality works were not getting jobs as inexperienced contractors were getting the contracts at as much as 35% below estimate.

"In 2011-12 most of the works were awarded 15 to 20% below the estimate. These contractors quote low prices to somehow bag the contract. Later they realize that they would incur huge losses. In many cases they leave the job midway or incur losses. That is why everybody has realized that such policies are not beneficial for anybody in the long run," he explained.

Standing committee chairperson Dayashankar Tiwari had recently told the office-bearer of NCWA that they should improve the quality of works else action would be taken against them. He had pointed out instances of contractors bagging the contract far below the estimate and then leaving the job midway.

Tiwari had told NCWA that the BJP-led government was drawing flak from citizens for the shoddy works. Nayudu said that the union fully supported Tiwari's decision to make standing committee members inspect the road works.

"A meeting of over 250 contractors was held today. All the members agreed that they were ready to allow other contractors to inspect their works. If we find that the quality is substandard then we will inform the concerned engineer and urge him to do a spot inspection," Nayudu said.

NCWA will not inspect the works awarded till now. The vigilance exercise will be done for the works in future. "There is no point in inspecting works awarded in pasts because many of our members had to go in for substandard works due to unhealthy competition among ourselves," Nayudu claimed.

A NMC contractor, preferring anonymity, said that NMC engineers were scared of inspections because they had certified the quality of works. "Inspection by standing committee members has exposed their claims about good roads. Most of the engineers do not inspect the works on the spot and just ask the contractors to maintain the quality. As a result the quality suffers," he said.