JKEEGA raises employees’ HR issues with Omar Abdullah

Srinagar, Oct 20: A delegation from the Jammu & Kashmir Electrical Engineering Graduates Association (JKEEGA), lead by General Secretary Sachin Tickoo, met with Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, in Jammu.

The delegation congratulated the Chief Minister on his assumption of office, particularly in relation to his important portfolio in the power sector, which holds significant expectations for “various stakeholders within the department.”

On this occasion, JKEEGA presented a detailed memorandum for the Chief Minister’s consideration. The memorandum highlighted that the current Managing Director (JKPTCL), Chief Engineers, and Superintending Engineers are all Assistant Engineers, with most Executive Engineers serving in a Junior Engineer capacity.

“These individuals are only officiating in higher assignments without receiving the corresponding emoluments. Despite the State Administrative Council's decision dated 22/10/2019 and the establishment of an Empowered Committee via Government Order No. 308-JK(GAD) of 2020, dated 02.03.2020, the issue of regularisation remains unresolved.”

“Furthermore, members of the J&K Engineering Gazetted Services have repeatedly requested a Time Bound Career Progression Scheme (ACP), similar to those available to doctors, VAS, and other technical services, including the subordinate judiciary. The Finance Department had considered this matter, and the then-State Cabinet approved a proposal for a Time Bound Promotion Scheme for members of the J&K Engineering (Gazetted) Services via Cabinet Decision No. 109/6/2018 dated 11/05/2018. However, formal notification has yet to be issued for the Engineering Services, while notifications for Gazetted Police and JKAS services have been released, causing significant injustice to engineers.”

The memorandum also noted that the department had sent an indent to the SSRB to recruit 300 Junior Engineers into corporations. “This process needs to be expedited, as there has been no recruitment of Junior Engineers in the Power Development Department for the past six years.”

JKEEGA requested the filling of vacant positions across the hierarchy, “which currently include: MD-1, ED-3, CE-2, SE-6, XEN-70, AEE-111, and JE-300.”

JKEEGA strongly urged the revocation of the suspension of engineers who “were suspended due to poor billing efficiency and AT&C losses, as outlined in Government Orders No. 50/51/52/53/54/55/56 and No. 57/58/59/60/61 of PDD, dated 19/03/2024. These engineers have been in suspension for nearly eight months without a hearing.”

Additionally, JKEEGA said, “serious reservations regarding the implementation of the Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding Mode (TBCB) for Transmission/Sub-Transmission infrastructure, as per SAC decision 11/01/2024 dated 18/01/2024. This approach could lead to the transfer of transmission assets to private entities for a minimum lease period of 35 years, potentially draining the state exchequer and offloading costs onto consumers.”

“Moreover, this would drastically diminish employment opportunities for youth in the government sector.”

JKEEGA also emphasised that the regularisation of daily-rated workers in PDD should be expedited, as the rules for this process are already in place.