BHUBANESWAR: Service diploma engineers of the State are on a dharna demanding regularisation of services of about 1,600 gram panchayat technical assistants (GPTA) and enhancement of grade pay of junior engineers.
Protesting the callous attitude of the State Government, president of Odisha Diploma Engineers’ Service Association (ODESA) Niramal Chandra Swain said GPTAs are serving in Panchayati Raj Department on contractual basis for more than 10 years despite the Government announcement to regularise contractual workers who have completed six years in service.
Cadre restructuring of junior engineers working in Steel and Mines, Agriculture, Commerce, Fisheries and Urban Development Departments is a long pending demand of the association. Though the State Government restructured the engineering cadre in 2013, the same benefit has not been extended to junior engineers working in these non-engineering departments.
The other demands of the association include enhancement of promotion quota for junior engineers from 33 per cent to 50 per cent, increase in grade pay from `4,200 to `4,600 and implementation of the Supreme Court ruling of equal pay for equal work.