Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has asked engineers in the state to adopt new technology in their respective departments and suggested them to advise the government on how administrative reforms can be implemented.
He was addressing members of the Karnataka Engineers Federation (KEF) at the valedictory programme of engineer-statesman Sir M Visvesvaraya’s birthday celebrated as Engineers’ Day on Saturday.
“There is a greater scope for the use of advanced technology in the areas of irrigation, water resources, rural development, energy and so on. Why are our engineers not using them? For instance, advanced technology can help us in disposal and treatment of garbage,” Shettar said.
“For instance, there is a dedicated vehicle that can help fill potholes on the roads. I would like Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy to start a trial of this vehicle in the city, which can be later tried in other cities in the state,” he said.
He also asked the Federation to come up with plans to address the issue of pending promotions and deputations.
“If you can help the government have cadre and recruitment rules separately for each department, we can have administrative reforms,” he said.
Engineers’ Demands
The Federation chairman M Nagaraj, a senior engineer with the public works department, urged the state government to exercise control in making sure that there is no external interference in the engineers work.
“Despite all the hard work we invest, there is a feeling amongst us that we are not getting our dues. Every house in the city is built with deviations, without proper plans. In the process of legitimising illegal constructions (Akrama- Sakrama), engineers are penalized and booked. We cannot go to every house to check the plans. This can be checked only by making amendments to the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act,” he said.
Nagaraj further placed the demands for periodical statesponsored training for engineers, promotions, revision of engineers salaries at par with doctors and setting up a research and training institute in Sir Visvesvaraya’s native place Muddenahalli in Chickballapur district.