‘Engineers should be given due recognition in policy making’

Every year on Engineers' Day we talk about M Visvesvaraya on his birthday but we never talk about the degradation of engineering services as compared to administrative services which is creating a lot of frustration amongst engineers across the country. Govt of India should take some immediate measures to look after the deteriorating condition of engineering services in India and redress it.
We have inherited our administrative structure from the British colonial state.The British had created and developed this system to meet their colonial interests and to continue with this system in an independent country was not a wise step. Therefore, since Independence, administrative reforms have been a major concern for Govt of India. Successive prime ministers have expressed the need for reforming the administrative machinery. As a consequence of which, a number of committees and commissions were constituted to look into this matter. On the basis of their recommendations, there have been incremental reforms.
In a democratic set up, a minister as a political head of the department, lays down policies and programs of the department. However, he requires expert advice on all such matters. The Secretariat plays the role of advisory body and the secretary is the principal advisor of the minister on all the matters pertaining to the ministry. At present, secretary/principal secretary of all departments are IAS officers. This system deprives the elected leadership from expert opinion at key levels of management and policy formulations because one single service or cadre is neither capable nor expert to render advice on various activities of the state.
For the successful functioning of an organization, authority must commensurate with responsibility for which certain conditions need to be fulfilled. Adequate authority should be given to realize the purpose of organization. An individual should have all the means at his disposal to achieve the objectives for which he has been made responsible. Unfortunately, our present administrative structure does not fulfill these conditions because here there is concentration of powers in general administrative services at district, region and state level. To improve this situation, the arrangement of various positions and powers within an administrative organization should be determined primarily by the nature and content of administrative tasks and functions to be performed. Decentralization of powers from general administrative services should be made and these should be given to related specialist services at district, regional and state level.
We should recognise that engineers play an important role in every walk of life. They convert knowledge of basic sciences into products. They are versatile minds who build bridges between sciences, technology and society. Engineers contribute to the nation's technological and industrial progress. They help improve living conditions for the common people. By virtue of our achievements in multiple fields, India stands poised to emerge as a leading nation in the 21st century. The innovation capability of our scientists and engineers will play a critical role in enabling India achieve this goal.
While talking about the status of engineers in policy making and the crucial role in its implementation, we find that engineers as discipline and professionals are being completely ignored by dominance of administrative services. In this context, it is important to know that the Administrative Reforms Committee submitted its report in 1969 which recommended that secretaries of all engineering departments should be engineers but recommendations have not yet been implemented. Niti Aayog also talks about professionalisation and recognition of specialised services but all in vain.
There is an urgent need to overhaul the structure of engineering services to induct experts at decision taking level in govt, both in Centre and states. It is a matter of regret that in spite of recommendations of Administrative Reforms Commission and many other expert committee reports nothing concrete has been done by either central or state govs. Before embarking on a comprehensive corrective process, it is imperative to have an Engineering Commission which should be appointed by the central govt on top priority.
In most engineering departments the overall decision making right remains with generalist IAS officers though engineers are held responsible for satisfactory functioning of the department. It is required to give decision making key posts in the secretariat to engineers to give the department appropriate direction and speed. Unless immediate corrective steps are taken it may not be possible to keep pace with technological developments taking place in developed countries.
The Engineering Commission is required to recommend the status of engineers vis a vis administrative services. The recommendation of the proposed Engineering Commission, if implemented, may provide an atmosphere in all technical departments which may provide status, power and career value to engineers which they deserve to perform at the highest level of their capabilities.
(Writer is the chairman of All India Power Engineers Federation)