BENGALURU: Diploma qualified engineers working in the Public Works Department (PWD) have alleged discrimination in promotions as opposed to their BE-qualified engineer counterparts, even though the Karnataka High Court passed an order supporting promotion rules for diploma engineers.
They said BE passed candidates are being recruited as assistant engineers and diploma holders are being recruited as junior engineers, though identical works are being distributed to them.
Additionally, BE assistant engineers are being promoted in five stages, whereas diploma holders claimed they are being promoted in only two stages. As a result, diploma engineers are retiring in the post of assistant executive engineer-2.
The Karnataka High Court ordered the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) to frame rules for promotion to the post of executive engineer for assistant executive engineers for diploma holders.
They also said the High Court explicitly noted that while graduate and diploma engineers enter service through different gateways, both streams ultimately converge upon the common destination of the executive engineer cadre without violating equality principles.
Similar inclusive frameworks are already adopted by states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, alongside local bodies such as the Directorate of Municipal Administration and KHB. Although political leaders have formally urged reform, PWD and Water Resources officials continue to delay policy updates.
