MUMBAI, Nov. 6 -- The state government has allocated Rs.5,000 crore to clear the pending dues of contractors who completed tasks for the Public Works Department (PWD). Furthermore, it has assured that an additional Rs.700 crore for building repairs and around Rs.1,320 crore for the Jal Jeevan Mission and tribal development department will be allocated before Diwali. The move to clear the partial arrears of over Rs.86,000 crore comes after the Maharashtra State Contractors Association (MSCA) kicked off a 'Call the CM and deputy CMs' on October 30 to push for payments for completed tasks that have been pending for a few years. On that day phone lines at the chief minister's office and the offices of the deputy chief ministers were jammed with incessant calls from contractors across the state demanding their pending payments. On Wednesday, the public works minister Shivendra Raje Bhosale met the contractors assuring them that the government had started releasing pending dues from the Rs.5000 crore allocated to the department. He added that the government had released around Rs.9,700 crore in the current fiscal. In separate meetings on Wednesday, tribal development minister Ashok Uike assured the contractors' delegation that Rs.560 crore will be cleared before Diwali, while the water supply and sanitation minister Gulabrao Patil assured contractors that the finance department will soon sign off on the proposal to clear Rs.760 crore in pending dues. "Of the Rs.17,500 crore that the PWD owes to contractors, particularly those handling road and bridge works, Rs.5,000 crore was recently released. Now the government has assured that it will additionally release Rs.700 crore for building repair works. Two other ministers also promised us that funds totalling Rs.1320 crore will be released....