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| Does Bukhari runs Sukhnandan's Ministry in Kashmir? | | Undue importance to non-technicals irks engineers | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Sept 14: Does the PWD Minister Altaf Bukhari run the affairs of the Public Health Engineering and Irrigation and Flood Control Ministry headed Sukhnandan Kumar? This is the question, that haunts the engineers of the two departments. They are also irked over undue importance given to influential and non technical persons.
The engineers of IFCD and the PHE said whereas some of the already promoted Superintending Engineers were awaiting postings, lower rung officials were being made to hold the chair of SE in Srinagar only because of their political connections with Altaf Bukhari.
Citing one such example, they said the SMC illegally elevated an official, Ishtiaq Ahmed Sheikh, as head of the drainage division, though he is not from the concerned field. The post was supposed to be filled by an engineer from IFCD.
The allegedly incompetent officer, working as Superintending Engineer Drainage, is holding the post of engineering field to which he neither belongs to nor is cadre wise eligible for. Ishtiaq actually happens to be Executive Engineer.
This official who was working as Executive Engineer SMC was given undue promotion vide order No. 522 of 2014 dated October 29, 2014 at a time when the Model Code of Conduct was in force for Assembly elections.
Thereafter despite hue and cry he was never replaced by any competent official, the insiders said.
Sources said Ishtiaq has been the biggest hindrance in the execution and maintenance of drainage projects in Srinagar, the city badly hit by floods last year. The technical staff, as per sources, looks at him as the biggest hindrance in the smooth execution of drainage works.
"He is unable to understand technicalities of how drainage and dewatering is managed. As a result the ground staff now works inefficiently as they are fed up of him," said a junior engineer pleading anonymity.
Though the matter was brought into the notice of concerned Minister Sukhnandan Kumar, he was unable to replace Ishtiaq. Sources said it was only because Ishtiaq allegedly happens to be the "right hand of Bukhari and allots tenders worth millions to his party workers."
Sources said Bukhari is so much interfering in the administrative affairs of Sukhnandan's Ministry, that recently some AEEs and Executives have been transferred to Srinagar though they have no previous experience of work in the district. "After floods Srinagar has become a sensitive posting and official given charges of drainage or flood control needs to be well versed with the ground issues… But presently political intervention is spoiling everything," said a source in the Sukhnandan's Ministry.
He said Bukhari has asked Sukhnandan not to take away charge from Ishtiaq. "Promoted SEs like Bhupinder Raina are made to wait for posting whereas officials like Ishtiaq continue to hold the chairs only because of political influence. This is injustice," said an engineer pleading anonymity.
When contacted Sukhnandan refuted that Bukhari was influencing him. "Basically there' s a dearth of engineers which I am trying to fill," he said.
The Minister, however, had no convincing reply as to why Ishtiaq was unduly holding the charge of SE when genuine candidates were awaiting postings. |
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