Mumbai, Oct. 30 -- Contractors across Maharashtra will launch a statewide phone campaign from Friday to demand clearance of Rs.86,000 crore in pending dues, with calls planned to the offices of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar over three days. On Thursday, the Maharashtra State Contractors Association (MSCA) asked its members to begin calling the ministers' offices as part of the campaign. According to the schedule issued by the association, Fadnavis's office will be targeted on Friday, followed by Shinde's on Monday and Pawar's on Tuesday. The association's leadership has also shared two landline numbers for each office. "Payments of around Rs.86,000 crore to contractors across departments in Maharashtra have been pending for the past one-and-a-half years. During this time, 10 contractors have died by suicide, yet nothing has moved," said Milind Bhosale, president of the MSCA. The Public Works Department accounts for around Rs.27,000 crore of the outstanding dues, while approximately Rs.38,000 crore is pending under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The Rural Development Department owes contractors around Rs.3,500 crore, the Tribal Development Department Rs.12,000 crore and the Tourism Department Rs.2,509 crore. Ahead of Diwali, contractor associations-including the MSCA, State Engineers Association, and Maharashtra State Water Supply Contractors Association-are demanding payment for dues pending with the Water Resources, Water Conservation, and Urban Development departments. Despite conducting protests, sit-ins, and marches, and sending multiple letters to the chief minister and deputy chief ministers requesting a meeting, the associations have received no response. With officials ignoring calls, MSCA leader Bhosale announced that around 300,000 contractors across Maharashtra will now directly phone top ministers' offices to demand clarification on whether their bills will be cleared....