Waiting for months, Power Dept Engineers consistently deprived of promotions

It’s been around 14 months since many engineers working in the Power Department are waiting for their promotion. In October 2019, the State Administrative Council (SAC) mandated in its meeting to promote the engineers within two months but it has not yielded any results. According to the sources, for more than a decade, hundreds of engineers working in the department have not got any promotion. An official complained that even the officers who are working as Executive Engineers have not been promoted and have been working as in-charge Executive Engineers. This deprives these people of the promotion benefits including, but not limited to, money. The official also said that many engineers are working at the same post since they joined. However, this is not the first time when engineers are demanding for a promotion. The engineering cadre of the department has been demanding regular promotions for many years, according to the sources. The State Administrative Council (SAC) had directed in its meeting that engineers’ demand for regular promotions be processed on a fast track. The process was scheduled to be completed within two months by 30 November 2019. The order reads that the SAC directed that the Competent Authority in the government should consider proposal through Establishment-cum-Selection Committee for a regular promotion in the Engineering Cadre of the PDD. SAC clearly mentioned that the process should be finished by 30 November 2019. However, it has been around 14 months but still, the engineers are waiting for their promotions. Sachin Tickoo, Secretary-General of JKEEGA, expressed his disappointment over the government’s refusal to accept these demands even when there was a written assurance. When PDD was being unbundled, the government had promised to re-organize the department to manage things in an efficient way. The government constituted an unbundling committee which submitted a report to SAC for the propose. This report had assured that engineers will be regularized within two months from the date of unbundling but even now, the process is not completed. Other than that, daily wagers were also promised to be regularized but have had the same fate as engineers.