How far J&K Engineering Gazetted Cadres are responsible for blocks in their Career progress?

Why no Non-Functional Grade Promotions for Engineering Gazetted Services in UT of J&K and like?

Daya Sagar

With the present status of promotion schemes / career progress plans in J&K Engineering Department a Graduate Engineer who enters even directly through PSC in gazetted cadre at an age of 22-23 yrs can progress maximum to the level of a Chief Engineer which post is only of Level-13 but there too due to there being no dedicated department in J&K for handling the affairs of the human resources nor there being even nominated sections even at HoD levels seniority disputes/ no timely DPCs / no timely human resource audit / no timely reorganisations /cadre planning / promotions of many are delayed much beyond even the laid schedules and levels. In terms of SRO- 403 of 2018 Superintending Engineer (SE ) was deemed to have been placed in Pay Scale of 4500-5700 in place of 3150- 4500 in view correction applied after court directions. But as on date Superintending Engineer as well as Chief Engineer are placed in L-13 pay scale ( after 7th Pay Commission grade revisions ) and so strangely “Administration” has not still raised the pay scale / level of Chief Engineer which should have been done by govt. in 2018 itself ( may be waiting for someone to bring court order).
No doubt in central services like IAS provision { Rule- 4 ( c ) of Indian Administrative Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954} is there for appointments of some % of officers from the Non – State Civil Service (SCS )/ PSC services ( non- provincial / State civil services) among those gazetted officer who have worked on the gazetted posts declared equivalent of the level of Deputy- Collector for 8 years but there too there have been no routine appointments by promotion like that in J&K worth creating opportunities beyond Level-13 for officers from J&K Gazetted Engineering Service ( in J&K the post of the old grade 7500-12000of Jr. KAS or equivalent is understood to have been declared equivalent to Deputy- Collector for the purpose where as an engineer through JK PSC entered as Asstt. Engineer in old pay scale of 8000-275-12950. No doubt as regards yearly conduct of such exercise even for State / UT cadre civil service officers { Rule- 4 ( b ) of Indian Administrative Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 }there too the process has not been regular { for J&K quota in IAS by promotion for Select Lists of 2013 ( 3 vacancies) , 2014 (0 ), 2015 ( 0) 2016 ( 2 vacancies ), 2017(3 vacancies ). 2018 (8) the exercise has been completed only in 2022 by issuance of DoPT GOI Notification 140315 /9/2021-AIS (I) – B on 03-08-2022}
Not only there is very very limited career progress , one promotion in ‘incharge capacity’ is so often followed with another promotion in incharge capacity more often culminating in even retirement in incharge capacity. Recently Er. Vinod Khajuria who retired working as I/C Chief Engineer and has been drawing pension for nearly last 10 years in the grade of AEE has been recently promoted first Vide G.O 49 -JK (PDD) of 2022 Dt 22-04-2022 as Ex. Engr w.e.f 15-09-2006 then vide G.O. 50 -JK (PDD) of 2022 Dt. 22-04-2022 as SE w.e.f 15-09-2010 and then as Chief Engineer vide G Order No. 51 -JK (PDD) of 2022 D a t e d: 22-04-2022 w.e.f 12-09-2012 state of affair well reflects from said orders.
The Officers of field departments ‘executing works / policies on ground, to particularly quote Engineering Departments, are often found complaining of improper handling of their service matters as regards timely grade promotions , creation of new promotion avenues and even deciding / fixation of pay scales. The Engineers have been expressing their grievances / opinions more only in private conversations where as not much meaningful proposals and reasoning appear to have been made by their associations worth taking their agony to policy planners for sympathetic due considerations; such issues have not been presented even during symposiums / workshop conducted by chapters of Indian Institute of Engineers in J&K so ‘they’ too are responsible for blocks in their progress. In case one looks back in earlier times one would find that in 1960s /1970s the Pay Scale 300-600/ 540-950 of even Assistant Engineer in J&K used to be higher than those who entered the Veterinary Gazetted Services, Ayurvedic Gazetted Services , Agriculture Asstt , Junani, Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, Astt Conservator of Forest, J&K Cooperative services ( even in 2022 ) and even gazetted J&K Civil Services ( so even in 2022 ). May be there is must need for appointing a high level committee for looking into the deficiencies in the recruitment rules for gazetted engineering services so as to minimise the service matter stresses on the officers in the departments since ‘unhappiness’ not only affects the capacity of an individual but in case the executing officers are under stresses the efficiency of executing cost intensive public interest programmes & projects too can suffer.
It is not out of place to mention here that ‘community’ need to deliberate seriously why in the present set up where even a graduate of general streams can compete the IAS exam conducted by UPSC but in the first merit list many top merit holder engineers from even IITs are found listed. So as regards the youth who enters IAS services it could also be inferred without any doubt that the IAS officers do come from the ‘over churned’ creamy lot of the youth community of India. Hence the deficiencies as regards handling the affairs concerning the human resources in the government departments and watching the genuine interests of field officers like provincial Gazetted Engineering Services cannot be so simply put in the basket of senior officers in the Administrations ( to be specific officers from IAS cadres only man senior Administrative posts of Level -14& above in J&K and many amongst them are basically Engineering Graduates , even with PG Degrees).
More so while at senior positions IAS officers are mostly loaded with multiple set of affairs, the infrastructure below do not adequately support them with timely inputs and rarely there is a senior officer with them for sharing decisions. Those who know the set ups in UT like J&K / erstwhile state of J&K well know that some times ( often) IAS Officer holding Level -17 may be posted as a Financial Commissioner /Additional Chief Secretary of Finance Department / Health Department / PDD/ Agri /PWD but no IAS officer of the level of Principle Secretary Level -15 or even Commissioner s L-14 or sometimes even no Adm. Secretary working below to share the work load .and decision making.
In some J&K services other than Engineering Departments too like PWD (R&B), PHE, PDD the normal min period laid for ( grade ) promotions is rarely followed. But with the prolonged struggle of some cadres making best us of available sources for making representations and some services/ cadres taking advantage of their being somewhat nearer to superior ‘chairs’ some success atleast to have some financial compensation for delay in level promotion has been achieved by cultivating the idea that in case the status promotion was not granted well in time atleast some system of grade promotions with time could be installed ALLOPATHIC Doctors in Health department have already been given a system for granting grade promotion to become due with a particular length of service. Grade promotions have also been extended to ISM/ DENTAL Doctors. Doctors in Animal and Sheep Husbandry Departments ( holding B.Vsc) degree whoare granted grade promotions on the lines of Medical/ISM Department FIRST two steps promotions 1stafter of 10 years and 2nd after 15 years of cumulative service vide SRO 43of 17-02-2004 for 1st&Office Memo No. A/98(2001)-115 dated 17th November 2005 of 17-02-2004 for 2nd. And 3rdtime bound promotion “Vide Government Order No. 03-ASH of 2010 dated 01.01.2010 was the dispensation of 3rd Time Bound Promotion to the eligible Veterinarians who rendered 20 years of cumulative service to the pre-revised pay scale of Rs. 14300-18300 revised to Rs. 37400-67000 with grade pay of Rs. 8700 (6th pay commission scales)_at par with Assistant Surgeons of the Health Department. But the Gazetted Engineering Services in J&K remained unheard.
No doubt it was reported on 11-05-2018 that J&K Cabinet had accorded sanction to the implementation of something like the Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme in respect of the Gazetted Service of Engineering Departments so as to ensure a minimum of 3 Time Bound promotions in a span of 20 years for the members and had authorised the Finance Department to notify the Scheme in that regard. But the ‘news’ had remained a paper news only even when after that SRO 198 of 25-04-2018 ( Non-Functional (Monetary) Scheme was issued for members of the J&K Administrative Service and SRO-195 Dated 18-05-2018 Non-Functional (Monetary) Scheme (NFS) on simi lines was issued for members of the General Executive Cadre of the J&K Police (Gazetted) Service .
(the author is Sr Journalist, social activist and analyst J&K affairs [email protected]).