ENGINEERING GFAFT
ENGINEERS POSTED in various departments, corporations and public enterprises in Uttar Pradesh were supposed to use their creativity, technology and scientific knowledge to put the State on the path of development. But these days, engineers are on the run. About 550 engineers posted in various government departments have been suspended. First information reports are being lodged against several of them. This is happening at a time when the Central and the State Governments are pumping thousands of crore of rupees into development of infrastructure facilities, canals, dams and roads.
A mafia-politician-engineer-bureaucrat nexus is eating into development projects and siphoning off public money. The suspension of a large number of engineers has brought the issue into focus.
ENGINEERS POSTED in various departments, corporations and public enterprises in Uttar Pradesh were supposed to use their creativity, technology and scientific knowledge to put the State on the path of development.
But these days, engineers are on the run. About 550 engineers posted in various government departments have been suspended. First information reports are being lodged against several of them. This is happening at a time when the Central and the State Governments are pumping thousands of crore of rupees into development of infrastructure facilities, canals, dams and roads.
The suspension of a large number of engineers in Rae Bareli, Lakhimpur Kheri, Unnao and Urai districts a few days ago has brought the issue into focus.
Investigation by government agencies indicate that a mafia-politician-engineer-bureaucrat nexus is eating into development projects and siphoning off public money.
The State Government has been aware of the problem for many years. Thus, it constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the then secretary, Irrigation, CM Vasudev in 1989-90. Though the committee submitted its report, its recommendations were not implemented.
Once again, in 2001, chief secretary Ajay Prakash Verma constituted a six-member committee, consisting of the principal secretary Irrigation, the principal secretary, Legal, the principal secretary, Housing, the secretary, PWD, the secretary, Finance, and the secretary, Small-Scale Industries, to submit a report to weed out mafia and criminal elements from government construction projects and tenders.
The committee suggested measures to check the influence of the mafia and maintain quality of work. But this report, too, was put in cold storage.
Why did respective governments sleep over the reports? The mafia-politician-engineer- bureaucrat nexus was helping divert development funds into the kitty of political parties. Thus, political masters not only turned a blind eye to the corrupt practices, but also devised new techniques to promote them.
Earlier, PWD engineers, equipped with hot mix plants, used to construct roads according to the standards set by the department. All construction projects of the PWD and the Irrigation Department were carried out under the Financial Handbook and the Indian Canal and Drainage Act, 1873. These Rules and Acts could not be superseded by any GO. But it has become a practice in government departments to amend rules to suit those in power.
Later, the PWD floated vertical tenders for construction and maintenance work.
Under vertical tenders, department prepared an estimate of expenditure on bitumen, stone chips, hot mix plant etc.
A separate tender was floated for each item. The idea was that if several organisations joined hands, not only would the work be completed on schedule, but quality would also be maintained.
However, the opposite happened. Tenders were bagged by single contractors. They hardly bothered about quality of construction work and used substandard stone chips and light rollers. Instead of taking action, the PWD officials decided to turn a blind eye to poor quality work. Completion certificates were issued and payment was made to contractors without an on-the-spot inspection.
Uttar Pradesh Engineers’ Association (UPEA) general secretary Akhtar Ali Farooqui said earlier the State Government supplied bitumen, cement and steel for construction work. Later, contractors were directed to supply construction material.
“For lure of the lucre, contractors are supplying sub-standard material. Engineers have no say in selection of contractors. Political masters and senior officers select them. District magistrates issue certificate to the contractors,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh Engineers’ Association office-bearers said the government allocated Rs 8,000 crore for construction of roads in various parts of the State.
As per the norms set by the PWD, there should Rs 12 crore workload in one division. Thus, there should be 700 divisions. But, only 236 divisions are functional today. It is a Herculean task for individual engineers to monitor all construction work.
If the State Government was serious about the quality of work, it should fill up all vacant posts, they added.