J&K PDD vacancies: Engineers say  promotions stalled, staff overburdened

By: Imtiyaz Sheikh (Ziraat Times)

Srinagar: The Power Development Department (PDD) in Jammu & Kashmir is reeling under an acute human resource crisis, with a staggering number of key engineering positions lying vacant as of April 1, 2025. An internal vacancy chart accessed by Ziraat Times  paints a grim picture of the department’s staffing status, sparking deep frustration among in-service engineers and raising serious concerns about project execution and power infrastructure management.

At the top levels, the department is running without 2 Managing Directors, 4 Executive Directors, 1 Secretary (Technical), and 7 Chief Engineers – all posts that are crucial for steering technical and strategic decisions. “There are people in line waiting to be elevated, yet the promotions remain stuck. The vacuum at the top is stifling operational efficiency,” said a senior engineer who wished to remain anonymous.

The crisis trickles down the hierarchy. A total of 15 Superintending Engineer (SE) posts remain vacant. More worryingly, over 50% of the sanctioned Executive Engineer (Ex-En) posts are unfilled, and 7 more Ex-Ens are slated to retire by the end of April 2025.

The situation is even more alarming at the mid- and junior-engineer levels. There are 83 net vacancies in the Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) cadre alone, including Direct Recruitment quota posts. Assistant Engineer (AE) and Junior Engineer (JE) levels are similarly overstretched, with hundreds of vacancies reported across the board. Despite being promoted over 15 months ago, many AEs are still awaiting their official postings, highlighting a dysfunctional HR system.

In-service engineers are equally disheartened by the lack of career progression and basic service conditions. Confirmation of regular status for many is still pending, a procedural delay that has persisted for years. “Even today, field engineers like JEs are entitled to a Fixed Travel Allowance (FTA) of just Rs 30—a figure that borders on insult in today’s cost-of-living environment,” said another official.

Insiders say the situation is impacting ground-level operations, particularly in maintenance and emergency response work. With the Union Territory embarking on ambitious power reforms and infrastructure upgrades, the shortage of qualified and positioned engineers could severely hamper progress.

The department, already under scrutiny for delays in implementation of power projects, now faces a bigger challenge—reviving a depleted and demotivated workforce.

“We don’t just need recruitment. We need systemic reforms, timely promotions, service confirmations, and fair allowances. This is a crisis of morale as much as of manpower,” said a senior official from the engineering cadre.

The ball now lies in the court of the UT administration, which must act swiftly to address this cascading vacancy crisis before it starts impacting the state’s power reliability and public satisfaction.