A Senate committee has agreed upon service structure for engineers and thus approved ‘Engineers Service of Pakistan’ (ESP), Chairman Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) announced it through a video message.
Engr. Jawed Salim Qureshi said that the direction of Pakistani engineers had been determined how to move in the right direction.
He said the engineers would soon begin playing their part in Pakistan’s engineering ministries and departments and be the part of the decision-making process. “It would be the time when engineers are to prove how they make proper ways and how they develop and prosper their nation.”
Engineers in Pakistan have been a neglected community and also a target of apathy of the system. They toil day and night for the development and advancement of the country but languish in their initial position for decades.
The engineers of Federal and Provincial departments do not possess any service structure nor they are given automatic time scale promotions, a grave injustice indeed, persisting for decades by now.
Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has been striving to improve the condition of the engineers and thus proposed “Engineers Service Structure” after the hard work of a committee at the council.
It took over a year to develop consensus among committee and GB members. The committee included Engr. Tahir Basharat Cheema (Convener), Engr. Pervez Butt, Engr. Raghib Abbas Shah, Engr. Kamal Uddin Tipu, Engr. Usman Yousaf Mobin Engr. Riaz Ahmed Khan, Engr. Raqeeb Khan, Engr. Abdus Salaam Khan, Engr. Prof Abdul Sattar Shakir, Engr. Ahmed Kamal, Engr. Riaz Arshad, Engr. Shakeel Ahmed Shahwani, Engr. Nadeem Anwar and Mr. Mahmood Rehmani (Secretary Committee)
Revisiting draft of ‘SERVICE STRUCTURE FOR THE ENGINEERS’
It said unlike federal structure, there is no service cadre for engineers, similar to the civil services, thus this need for the immediate introduction of engineering cadre at
Federal and Provincial level, with an opportunity for the engineers.
In the early 70s some administrative reforms were introduced for the betterment of the engineers, but later disarrayed. These need to be considered and revived for betterment of the engineering services of Pakistan. The services structure of engineers in line with civil services, those of doctors and other services need to be linked to the automatic time scale promotion i.e. 05-years from BS-17 to BS-18 07-years from BS-18 to BS-19, 05-years from BS-19 to BS-20 and 05-years from BS-20 to BS-21, 03 years from BS-21 to BS-22 and the professional engineers should only be appointed from BS-17 to BS-22 in all engineering departments and organizations.
Also, it further proposed that further promotion in BS 21 & 22nd should be linked to specialized professional training and higher qualifications.
The engineers working with government departments stagnate in the original grades in which they were inducted, for long periods of time, primarily due to unrealistic Service Rules and closed cadres.
The engineers, in most of the engineering organizations, get recruited in BPS-17, stagnate for 15 to 20 years in the same grade and hardly get promoted to BPS-18, as Senior Engineers and thus a vast majority of them retire in BPS-18.
It is most unfortunate that these professionals are ignored, while the officers of other services climb their way from BPS-17 to BPS-22 quickly within very few years, in each scale along with much better facilities, honor and privileges.
Under the Administrative Reforms Order of 1973 had compensated professionals, including engineers, to some extent by granting special and uniform scale of pay to all professional services. At one time, six to seven engineers were elevated as technocrats to the position of Federal Secretaries and almost all Provincial Secretaries of engineering departments were engineers, resulting in remarkable achievements of infrastructure and prosperity within the country. However, this has changed with time and presently seldom any such position is held by an engineer.
Recruitment and Promotion Structure of Engineers
In view of above circumstances and to inculcate confidence of engineers in government and public service, and to provide them a respectable
role in the national agenda of development and prosperity, a proper service structure for professional needs to be approved and notified by the Government of
Pakistan and the provinces besides all other public sector entities.
Besides the requirement of a proper service structure, a time scale promotion structure was also proposed.
There are more than 500 Cadre posts in BPS-20 in the various engineering departments and organizations. The Government during the year 1989 constituted a committee to recommend a service group of engineers like other services groups. The Committee had recommended to carry out job evaluation for
jobs in BPS-20 and above and appointments of relevantly qualified and experienced professionals in line with job analysis, federal ministries involving engineering works to be declared as engineering ministries and engineers having suitable experience and qualifications were proposed to be posted as Secretaries, Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries in such ministries. The Committee had further recommended creating an occupational group of engineers, Central Engineering Services and Engineering Academies and foreign training in different developing fields.
The recommendations of the committee, however, were never implemented and totally set aside. The draft recommended to an engineering Services of Pakistan be constituted which will ensure proper promotion of engineers to higher positions.
So as to broaden the availability and expertise it is imperative that the Pool of BPS-20 position in all Federal Government departments, inclusive of such professionals from the Autonomous/Semi-autonomous and other government entities- such are sourced at the provincial level too, can be tapped, to form the basis for promotions to BPS-21 and above.
Appointment of Engineers on Technical Positions
Engineers are responsible for the execution of development plans, provision and maintenance of essential services and contribute towards productivity, economic well-being, and defense of the country.
The performance of organizations like Atomic Energy Commission of Pakistan, Defence Production is a clear manifestation of the fact that engineers and scientists can perform wonders provided they are given proper working conditions and role in decision making.
Ministry of Water & Power, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources, Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of communications, Ministry of Housing & Works, Ministry of Production, Aviation Division, Defense Production Division, Planning & Development Division, Ministry of Industries, Any other professional engineering body performing professional engineering work should be need be manned and managed by engineers / technocrats with relevant expertise in relevant field
The draft also talked about the incentive for higher technical qualifications, trainee engineers, foreign training and internships.
Salary Structure
Salary of the engineers in the private sector should be well defined and after completing internship / training engineers should be offered min. salary of Rs. 70,000/- per month. Engineers holding a master or doctorate degrees should be given extra incentive in basic pay package.
The proposed draft also touched areas like hardship allowance, the brain drain of engineers, management skills and job opportunities
