Engineers, docs make common cause
ENGINEERS AND doctors with various government departments plan to form a Technocrat Association. What has prompted the move is the fact that about 500 Indian Administrative Service officers and 1,000 Provincial Civil Service officers have been walking away with promotion, salary hike, higher posts and better service condition. Besides, IAS officers have captured top posts belonging to engineers and doctors? cadre.
ENGINEERS AND doctors with various government departments plan to form a Technocrat Association.
What has prompted the move is the fact that about 500 Indian Administrative Service officers and 1,000 Provincial Civil Service officers have been walking away with promotion, salary hike, higher posts and better service condition. Besides, IAS officers have captured top posts belonging to engineers and doctors’ cadre.
Thus, the engineers and doctors have decided to unite for their rights.
There are about 12,000 engineers in various government departments and 11,000 doctors in Provincial Medical Health Services.
Trade union leader Shailendra Dubey has been appointed convener of the Technocrat Association.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Dubey said the association of doctors and engineers was very much active till 1984-85. Later, it became almost defunct and “now we have decided to revive it and fight for the cause of technocrats,” he said.
“We will urge the State Government to appoint technocrats as heads of departments, secretaries and principal secretaries in professional organisations. I am planning to call a meeting of technocrats within a week to discuss the issues,” he said.
UP Engineers’ Association general secretary Akhtar Ali Farooqui said, “We have already raised the demand that instead of the IAS, the State Government should appoint engineers to their top cadre posts.”
“While the IAS and the PCS are getting time-bound promotion, several engineers retire on the same post on which they have joined service. On the other hand, engineers are suspended on trivial issues,” Farooqui lamented.
“Along with drawing the State Government’s attention towards various issues associated with their cadre, the engineers and doctors association will put pressure on the government to improve their working conditions,” he said.
Provincial Medical Health Services Association (PMHSA) general secretary Dr Jay Singh said both engineers and doctors were professionals and faced the same service related problems. The Technocrat Association would work to improve the service conditions and for fulfillment of other demands of technocrats, he said.