Srinagar, Sep 9: The Jammu and Kashmir Electrical Engineering Graduates Association (JKEEGA) today staged a protest at PDD Complex Bemina here to press for redressal of their demands.
The protest was attended by large numbers of engineers and issues faced by PDD engineers were deliberated. “The inordinate delay in resolving burning issues faced by engineers of erstwhile JKPDD were brought into knowledge of fraternity,” JKEEFGA said in a statement.
Addressing the protesting engineers, Er. Pirzada Hidayatullah said the Power Engineering fraternity has been continuously longing for their confirmation on their respective posts and grades from decades. “The adhocism and stopgap arrangement at the time of interim promotions has caused frustration and distress among the rank and file of the fraternity which needs to be done away within the right earnest,” he said.
“There is an alarming situation in the PDD right now. Chief Engineers are superannuating in the grades of Assistant Engineers while as Superintending Engineers, Executive Engineers & Assistant. Ex. Engineers are superannuating in the grades of Junior Engineers which speaks volumes about the total indifference and humiliating treatment to the services rendered engineers of JKPDD over decades culminating in reduced pension benefits,” Hidayatullah said.
He said the then SAC in October 2019 had directed to complete the regularisation process of Power Engineers in two months by providing a one-time exception for referring the case to JKPSC and instead complete the same at Departmental DPC level after approval from Establishment-cum-Selection Committee. “But till date even after a lapse of 04 years, the decision is yet to see the ray of light,” he said.
On promotions, it was briefed that the Department is not moving ahead regarding the In-charge promotions also. “The vacuum has gone to the extent that at present there are more than 725 posts vacant in the Department across all levels,” he said.
While highlighting the massive transformation in the power sector of J&K, he said “if concrete steps are not initiated for immediate redressal of non filling of vacancies it would
become impossible to achieve standards and targets set by the Government for development of the power sector of modern Jammu and Kashmir.”
“None of the Junior Engineers have been recruited since 2016 and at present 333 posts of Junior Engineers are vacant since the last so many years. This puts the field functioning of the Department in shambles. The result is that a single JE is manning so many feeders thereby resulting in inefficiency which eventually results in high losses. The Department is working at 60% strength which is putting brakes in achieving the target of uninterrupted and reliable power supply,” Hidayatullah said.
