SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir’s power sector has a vacuum of more than 700 engineers and most of the engineers holding job positions have not been confirmed. Some of the engineers returning in the coming days will retire as Junior Engineers or AEEs even though serving the energy sector as Chief Engineers and contributing more than 30 years to the department, a detailed letter sent by Jammu and Kashmir Electrical Engineering Graduates Association (JKEEGA) to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said.
The regularisation of the engineers against the positions they are holding has been inordinately delayed even after the State Administrative Council (SAC) approved it as early as October 22, 2019. JKEEGA has regretted that despite the lapse of three and a half years, the decision is yet to see the light of day.
“The present fact is that the situation has gone from bad to worse post Oct-2019 with administrative hurdles being created at each and every level resulting in the fact that the one-time exception accorded by the then SAC is turning out to be a nightmare for all the Power Engineers,” the three-page letter, signed by the members of the association said. “We would like to apprise your Honourable self that all the present Chief Engineers of the Power Development Department are substantive Assistant Engineers and all the present Superintending Engineers of the Power Development Department are either substantive Assistant Engineers or Junior Engineers.”
Offering, what it said, “the shocking aspect” of the PDD, the letter said “all the power engineers working in the capacity of Executive Engineers, Asstt. Ex. Engineers and Asstt. Engineers are Junior Engineers.”
The JKEEGA has regretted that while the government has managed the regularization in PWD(R&B) and Jal Shakti Department, the energy sector has not been touched.
JKEEG communication has flagged the crisis of creating an ad-hoc system of “Incharge” and avoided filling of vacancies at all levels which otherwise was a routine matter. It said a single engineer is holding the charges of three to four divisions thereby making it impossible for power engineers to work up to the desired levels.
Offering an idea of positions running vacant in the sector as on day, the JKEEGA has offered a break-up of 721 positions. These include two Managing Directors, four Executive Directors, five Chief Engineers, 14 Superintending Engineers, 62 Executive Engineers, 134 Assistant Executive Engineers, 167 Assistant Engineers and 333 Junior Engineers.
“The vacancies are being filled in such a manner that a single stroke of the pen of the Authority is taking months and at times the power engineers are attaining superannuation on retirement without the due promotion despite available vacancies,” the communication said. “The fact is that the basic foot soldier, Junior Engineer, which has to be recruited thereby paving the way for employment opportunities to the unemployed youth is not being filled since 2019 thereby affecting the performance of the existing Junior Engineers of the Power Development Department. The present Junior Engineers are being harassed of administrative actions for below-par performance but nobody is attentive to the fact that the present junior engineers of PDD are working beyond their capacity because of 50 per cent of existing strength.”
It regretted: “The situation at HOD levels is so grave that this might be the only case across the whole country where a Transmission Corporation has been without the Managing Director since last one year.”
The communication revealed that the post of Executive Directors (E) which were created by the Government in February 2022 have not been filled till date.
“We see hope in Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and that is why we have written to him because he has already taken some decisions which have not been implemented by the department,” Peerzada Hidayaullah, the Secretary-General JKEEGA said. “Had the SAC decisions been implemented, the power sector would have been in a better position.” He said Sinha showered praises on the working of the power sector but is perhaps not been told about the state of affairs in the department. “This is precisely we have written to him directly,” he said.
