HYDERABAD: The Indian Engineers Federation (INDEF) objected to the Union government’s decision to appoint an IAS officer, instead of an engineer, as the Central Water Commission (CWC) chairman.
In a press statement issued here on Thursday, INDEF chairman S Ananth and secretary-general KMI Sayyad said that an engineer from the Central Water Engineering Service (CWES) should be posted as chairman of the CWC.
The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR) of Ministry of Jal Shakti recently assigned the additional charge of the post of chairman CWC to Additional Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR. The post of chairman, CWC, who also serves as an ex-officio Secretary to the Central government is usually held by the most senior technocrat from CWES (Gr A).
Impact on decision-making
The appointment of a generalist administrative officer to head the apex engineering institution may adversely affect the appropriate decision making and advisory role played by the Commission in guiding various State government Water Resources/Irrigation Departments, the INDEF leaders said.
The decision of giving additional charge has negated the right of a qualified engineer to provide skilled superintendence for the prospective water resources development and management in the country, they added.
“Please reconsider your decision in the light of the aforementioned facts as well as time-tested practice ...and post senior most technocrat from CWES (Gr A) to head the apex technical organisation of India in the water resources sector,” the INDEF urged Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil.