New Delhi, Sept. 9 -- Delhi's roads, bridges and public buildings could soon get a more locally accountable engineering system, with the Centre approving the separation of 3,214 sanctioned engineering posts in the Delhi PWD from the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) cadre. The move ends a nearly three-decade wait for an independent engineering cadre for the Capital.
The step, approved by the Centre on Wednesday, is aimed at speeding up construction and infrastructure works, improving monitoring and fixing greater accountability among engineering officials, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said.
Welcoming the decision, Gupta described it as a "historic step" towards making Delhi a developed, safe and world-class capital. She said the creation of an independent cadre had been pending for nearly three decades and would allow the Delhi government to develop an engineering system suited to the capital's specific requirements.
"Delhi needs a strong, capable and accountable engineering system of its own to meet its growing infrastructure requirements," Gupta said, adding that the existing arrangement, under which PWD's engineering wing largely depended on the CPWD cadre, could make it difficult to take decisions in line with Delhi's immediate development needs.
The separate cadre is expected to give the government greater control over the availability and deployment of engineers, filling vacancies, monitoring projects and executing works. The government said Delhi is expected to undertake several major infrastructure projects in the coming years, including a new Secretariat and mini-secretariats across all 11 districts, besides works related to roads, bridges, mandis, sports facilities and other public infrastructure.
The Chief Minister also linked the reform to greater transparency and accountability. She said an independent cadre would make it easier to fix responsibility when deficiencies or irregularities are detected in construction projects, rather than allowing transfers to disrupt the process of accountability. PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma also welcomed the Centre's approval, saying "the move would strengthen Delhi's capacity to execute infrastructure projects and ensure greater accountability in public works." The Delhi government had earlier approved the proposal in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Gupta before it was sent to the Centre. Welcoming the approval, a government statement said the reform would make Delhi's engineering administration more self-reliant and strengthen its capacity to execute and maintain public infrastructure.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.