Srinagar, Oct 4: In a striking anomaly in Jammu and Kashmir’s Power Department, engineers who have risen to the level of Chief Engineer are in some cases still drawing salaries attached to the entry-level posts against which they were initially recruited, with prolonged delays in regularising promotions leaving senior officers without the corresponding financial benefits.
According to senior engineers familiar with the issue, two Chief Engineers are presently drawing salaries against the post of Junior Engineer (JE), while an officer holding a Managing Director-level position is also drawing salary against a substantially lower post.
The anomaly, according to the engineers, extends across the cadre. Engineers recruited as JEs through the Services Selection Board (SSRB) and subsequently promoted through the hierarchy up to Chief Engineer level continue to draw the salary attached to the JE post because their promotions have remained on an in-charge basis and have not been regularised.
Similarly, officers who entered the engineering service through the Public Service Commission and subsequently rose to senior positions, including Chief Engineer and Managing Director-level assignments, are also stated to be drawing the salary of an Assistant Engineer (AE), despite discharging the responsibilities of substantially higher posts.
The unusual situation is a consequence of the prolonged delay in granting regular or substantive status to promotions. While the engineers are entrusted with the duties, responsibilities and accountability of higher posts, their pay continues to be linked to their substantive posts.
A senior engineer said the situation had created a serious disparity between the responsibilities being discharged and the financial and service benefits available to the officers.
The issue has been raised by the Jammu and Kashmir Electrical Engineering Graduates Association (JKEEGA), which has expressed concern over the continued in-charge arrangements and their impact on status, seniority, promotion and financial benefits across the engineering cadre.
Er Pirzada Hidayatullah, Vice Chairman, All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) and General Secretary, JKEEGA, said the engineers had followed the prescribed procedures and were discharging responsibilities attached to higher positions, yet remained deprived of the corresponding benefits.
“There has been discrimination against us. We have followed the prescribed procedure, our officers have been promoted, and we are performing the duties of higher posts, but we are still not being given the due promotions and corresponding salary benefits,” Hidayatullah said.
He said the disparity was particularly difficult to reconcile when compared with the treatment of officers in other services, where promotion to a higher grade is followed by the corresponding financial benefits.
“If officers are promoted to the next grade, they get the benefit of that grade. We are also working against higher posts, but despite performing those responsibilities, we are not getting the corresponding benefits,” he said.
Hidayatullah said power engineers were working under increasingly demanding conditions as electricity demand continued to grow and engineers were required to maintain the power system under challenging circumstances.
“We are working hard despite the growing power demand and are putting our lives at stake while discharging our duties. When we are entrusted with the responsibilities of higher posts, we should also get the regular status and salary benefits attached to those posts,” he said.
The Association said promotions from JE to AE, AEE, Executive Engineer, Superintending Engineer and Chief Engineer, as well as higher assignments including Managing Director-level posts, have been made on an in-charge basis.
JKEEGA said the arrangement may meet immediate administrative requirements but cannot be a substitute for regular promotion, confirmation and proper settlement of seniority.
The issue has remained pending for several years despite a State Administrative Council decision of October 22, 2019, under which proposals for regular promotion of power engineers were to be processed on a fast-track basis and completed within two months, by November 30, 2019.
Following the restructuring and unbundling of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Department, Government Orders No. 191-PDD of October 23, 2019 and 199-PDD of October 30, 2019 were also issued in connection with migration and related service matters.
JKEEGA said that despite the passage of several years, the regularisation process had not been brought to its logical conclusion and only five regularisation orders had been issued so far.
The matter was again considered by the Establishment-cum-Selection Committee at its meeting on July 23, 2026, when a proposal concerning regularisation of power engineers at different levels, including the issue of JE seniority and its consequential impact on the engineering cadre, was placed before the Committee.
The Committee advised that the proposal be placed before the Council of Ministers to seek an extension of the relevant 2019 SAC decision before further processing, according to the Association.
JKEEGA has expressed concern that the proposal has not yet been placed before the Council of Ministers, saying the delay has further prolonged uncertainty over the regularisation and confirmation of power engineers.
The Association said the issue had implications not only for the financial benefits of individual engineers but also for seniority, future promotions and the entire career progression of the Power Department’s engineering cadre.
Hidayatullah said the Association had been pursuing the matter through institutional channels but was increasingly concerned over the continued delay.
“Our demands are not being addressed despite the decisions that have already been taken. We have been patient and have pursued the matter through the proper channels, but if the issue continues to remain unresolved, we will be forced to resort to democratic means of protest,” he said.
JKEEGA has urged the administrative department to expedite the process, place the proposal before the Council of Ministers, obtain the requisite extension or approval and complete the regularisation and confirmation of power engineers at all levels in a time-bound manner.
