THE INDIAN Administrative Service (IAS) officers will soon face challenge from another front as the Non-Civil Service officials, including engineers and doctors, have decided to demand their cadre posts “captured by IAS officials”.
Buoyed by the success of the Provincial Civil Services’ Association, the Provincial Medical Health Services’ Association (PMHSA) and UP Engineers’ Association (UPEA) have decided to take up the issue with Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
“We do not want to be promoted to IAS but give us our cadre posts” is the demand of the PMHSA and UPEA officials. IAS officials should be removed immediately from the posts that belong to PMHS and UPEA cadre, government doctors and engineers demanded.
PMHSA president Dr DP Mishra and General Secretary Dr Jay Singh say the posts of the Project Director in UP AIDS Control Society, UPHSDP, SIFPSA and National Health Programmes belong to PMHS but IAS officers have captured these posts since years. Both Mishra and Singh say that at the Central Government level, doctors are appointed on the post of secretary in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The state government should also follow suit and rather than appointing IAS officers it should appoint doctors on the posts of project directors.
The responsibility of various health projects and programmes being run by the state government is of doctors but IAS officers are the nodal officers of these projects. They are seated on the post without any responsibility, Singh rued.
{{/usCountry}}The responsibility of various health projects and programmes being run by the state government is of doctors but IAS officers are the nodal officers of these projects. They are seated on the post without any responsibility, Singh rued.
{{/usCountry}}Even the Allahabad High Court, in an order some time back, had stated that non-technical officers should not be appointed on technical posts, Mishra said.
On February 27 last a delegation of the PMHSA office-bearers had submitted a memorandum to Principal Secretary, Medical Health, demanding appointment on the technical posts.
On the other hand UP Engineers’ Association has also joined the PMHSA and demanded removal of IAS officers from their cadre posts. General secretary of UP Engineers’ Association Akhtar Ali Farooqi said earlier the engineer-in-chief of the Irrigation Department held the post of secretary in the department. Later, the IAS grabbed the posts and to tighten their grip on the Irrigation Department they have created three posts of engineer-in-chief. “Even the Samwal Committee, in its report in 1976, had stated that the principal engineer would hold the post of secretary in the state government. This is also appropriate for the engineers in the Public Works Department”, Farooqi said.