Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 26: The Jammu and Kashmir Electrical Engineering Graduates Association (JKEEGA) has demanded filling up of all the vacant positions across all levels in the Power Development Department and allied Corporations.
Addressing a press conference here today, JKEEGA general secretary, Sachin Tickoo, flanked by Executive Council members-Gulshan Bhagat, Rajeshwar Jamwal, V S Chib, Ankush Sharma and others said that the Electrical Engineers are facing stagnation while many posts at various level are lying vacant since long. He said the engineers are working under very hard conditions with dedication to achieve the revenue targets given by the Government and also ensuring to implement the Centrally sponsored schemes but their repeated requests have remained unheard. An increase of 17% in the power revenue has been achieved as compared to previous year.
But the engineers in the Power sector have been awaiting since last so many years, that their human resources will be resolved especially, the regularization and time bound promotions/ career progression in the gazetted cadre.
He pointed out that current lot of all the Engineers including the Executive Director/ Chief Engineer, is Assistant Engineer on substantive basis and none of the working engineers is above the cadre of Assistant Engineer. Therefore, all the hurdles to promote/regularize these serving/ retired engineers be removed, as per Administrative Council decision dated 22-10-2019.
Senior JKEEGA members said that scores of posts right from Junior Engineers to Chief Engineer/ED level are lying vacant. For the last over six months, no engineer in the PDD has been promoted. There are four vacancies of EDs, 10 Chief Engineers, 13 SEs, 58 XEns, 104 AEEs and more than 300 of AEs and JEs are lying vacant. They urged the higher authorities in the PDD to fill up these vacant posts. At present just 5 Chief Engineers are managing the work load of 15 CEs besides some EDs/MDs, he revealed.
Tickoo further said that 292 posts of JEs in JPDCL/KPDCL/JKPTL/KLPCL have been referred to Service Selection Board. It is enjoined upon the SSB to expedite the process of recruitment. Their services are urgently required to undertake/execute the works worth over Rs 5600 crores under RDSS and other CSS.
JKEEGA sought the intervention of Addl Chief Secretary Shaleen Kabra, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to address the most burning issues of the Electrical Engineers in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir without any more delay.