Itanagar: Acknowledging that out-of-turn promotions on officiating or adhoc basis has been in practice in most of the government departments of the state, chief minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday assured that “all such promotions would soon be cancelled”.
“The promotion of government officers and officials should strictly be on the basis of seniority and as per the norms,” the chief minister said.
He informed that the chief secretary has been directed to compile a list of all such promotions in all government departments including the engineering departments and place it before the cabinet.
“Till date the lists of 31 departments have been compiled and rest are in progress,” Khandu said.
The chief minister was addressing the valedictory function of the 2-day Refresher Training Programme of engineers of all working departments of the state here at the D K Convention Hall here.
On departmental promotion committee (DPC) meetings, Khandu reiterated that as per government’s direction, it should be conducted every 6 months.
“If DPCs are not being conducted on a regular basis, please come forward and approach the respective ministers, commissioners or secretaries. It is your (government employee’s) duty to remind the concerned people in position,” he advised.
Earlier, the chief minister appreciated the novel initiative of conducting refresher training for all engineers – from executive engineer level and above – of every working department of the state. He suggested that the programme should be made into an annual event.
He further suggested that similar refresher training must be conducted for engineers from the junior engineer level too and assured support from the government side.
Terming engineers as the ‘architects’ of future Arunachal Pradesh, Khandu said they are the ones who execute projects worth 60% of the state budget.
“As I look at you from this podium, I am not looking at your faces but I am looking at 60% of our state budget. You fail, the state collapses,” he commented.
Insisting on quality and timely completion of projects, Khandu said it is the responsibility of each engineer to ensure that no one points a finger at the fraternity, department or the government.
“If you are honest in your dealings, abide by the rule book and maintain quality and timely execute a project, there will be no protests or any foot- march,” he said without mentioning anyone.
Talking about changing times and technology, Khandu mentioned the ongoing construction of tunnels by the border roads organization (BRO) in the state, which a decade earlier could not be even thought of.
He urged upon departments like PWD and RWD, which execute all major road projects in the state, to technically equip themselves to construct tunnels wherever feasible.
“I personally feel that tunnels are the best option in a mountainous state like ours,” he said while cautioning that no matter what, the pristine environment of the state shouldn’t be disturbed.
Referring to a few points raised by the engineering fraternity, Khandu endorsed the suggestion to have a separate schedule of rates (SOR) for execution of infrastructural projects in the state owing to its varied topography. He offered that a committee be constituted with retired senior engineers and experts, who can do a study and recommend SOR for the state government divided into three categories – the foothills, middle belt and high altitude zone.
He also acknowledged the need to fast-track the sanctioning process so that departments can execute actual work on ground during the dry season.
Khandu further candidly admitted that he along with ministers and MLAs are guilty of publicly mentioning a certain amount while announcing projects during tours and public functions.
“Yes, I too have announced that ‘this much’ amount will be sanctioned for this project many times, which is wrong. The estimate cannot be decided before preparation of the actual detailed project report (DPR). It should be as per DPR. Henceforth, we need to stop this practice and I will pursue this with my legislator colleagues,” he said.
Executive engineers, superintendent engineers and chief engineers of all working departments including the PWD, RWD, urban development, hydropower, PHE, WRD, rural development & and panchayati raj, power, home, etc. took part in the programme organized by the state PWD.
