Engineers across the state will go on mass leave from 11 January if the government fails to fulfill their demands relating to promotion, removal of pay anomalies and other such issues.
Addressing a Press conference after a meeting of its extended executive committee here today, the Orissa Engineering Service Association members said they had submitted a seven point charter of demand to the government years ago, but other than lip service and assurances, nothing had been done towards fulfillment of these demands.
Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik had assured us that the demands would be examined and decisions would taken within three months. But twenty months have passed by since that assurance came, regretted the OESA leaders.
“Since yesterday, engineers are sporting black badges as a mark of protest. We had served a notice on 16 November stating that we will resort to strike if the demands are not met within a month. More than a month has lapsed and there is absolutely no response from the government,” charged an OESA leader.
Engineering departments should be headed by us, not IAS officers, entry level posts should be in the rank of assistant executive engineers and if promotions were not given, at least time-bound scale of pay should be implemented, they said.
Presently, a engineer is serving at the entry level for almost 20 years without getting promoted, alleged secretary of the association Mr AK Das.