JKEEGA petitions LG Manoj Sinha for engineers’ regularization

25 July 2023

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Jammu, July 25 – The J&K Electrical Engineering Graduates Association (JKEEGA), representing engineers and employees of the Power Development Department (PDD), has submitted a petition to the Lt. Governor, Manoj Sinha, urging for the regularization of engineers and resolution of other long-pending service demands.

In a signed petition addressed to the Governor, Pirzada Hidayatalluh, the General Secretary of JKEEGA, expressed concerns over the prolonged delay in implementing decisions made by the government. The engineers pointed out that the continued neglect by the authorities is adversely affecting their future prospects.

Presently, the Jammu Kashmir power sector is operating with nearly half the required number of engineers, and the regularization of power engineers has been pending for several decades, the association said in a statement to Ziraat Times.

It is noteworthy that on October 22, 2019, the then State Administrative Council of J&K approved the proposal for the regularization of power engineers. However, despite the passage of three and a half years, the decision remains unimplemented, the statement added.

Currently, the top positions within the power development department are being held by engineers in lower grades, creating an inefficient work environment. A single engineer is being burdened with the responsibilities of three to four divisions, hindering their ability to function at optimal levels. As of July 2023, numerous key positions in the department remain vacant, including managing director (2 vacancies), executive director (E) (4 vacancies), chief engineer (E) (5 vacancies), superintending engineer (E) (14 vacancies), executive engineers (E) (62 vacancies), assistant executive engineers (E) (134 vacancies), assistant engineers (E) (167 vacancies), and junior engineers (E) (333 vacancies), the statement further said.

The issues raised by JKEEGA encompass not only the regularization of engineers but also promotions at all levels, grade pay of Junior Engineers, reformation of a previously scrapped welfare policy, holding of Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs), and various other related matters.

Pirzada Hidayatullah, the General Secretary of JKEEGA, has urgently appealed to Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha to personally intervene and address the concerns of all engineers in the PDD. Furthermore, he urges the administrative authorities to promptly fill the vacant positions at all levels to alleviate the current staffing shortages.

Adding to the cause, V K Gupta, spokesperson for the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), an amalgam of all Engineering Unions and Associations across the country, has pledged full support to the electrical engineers’ plight. The AIPEF empathizes with the engineers who continue to suffer due to the delay in their regularization, despite the decision made by the State Administrative Council in 2019 to complete the process within two months.