f State government employees, including engineers, choose to greet Cabinet Ministers with slogans of protest like, Rajakiya nayakula daurjanyam, nashinchali, nashinchali , it only means something is wrong about their relations with the ruling party. This happened in Adilabad on Wednesday when Forest Minister Jogu Ramanna and Housing Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy arrived at the ZP meeting hall for a review meeting.
Scores of officials and employees who had come to attend meetings during the day at the Collectorate and ZP halls, boycott the meetings in protest against the alleged manhandling of an Irrigation Department Assistant Executive Engineer by Bellampalli TRS MLA Durgam Chinnaiah. The protesters demanded, among other things, a comprehensive inquiry into the incident of manhandling, including the state of works under the prestigious Mission Kakatiya programme.
“This programme has become our bugbear,” observed an irate Irrigation engineer. “This is the fourth such incident in this district after the ones at Swarna, Nirmal and Yellampalli,” he said, pointing towards the war of attrition launched by politicos who are executing works on repairs to tanks under the MK programme.
“In Adilabad, almost all the works are being executed by TRS leaders and cadres though works were allotted to regular contractors. Not only are the works substandard but we are expected to release bills for work which has not been done,” reveals another engineer on conditions of anonymity.
Except in the Sirpur Assembly constituency, all the over 500 tank repair and strengthening works in Adilabad district were allotted at an average of 20 per cent less than the estimated amount.
In addition, the contractor has about 12 per cent of the estimated amount locked in the shape of deposits which ultimately leaves little scope for him to execute complete work while maintaining quality.
“Those who are executing the works expect us to okay the bills for works. They think, they can claim issue of bills as the pits left for measurement are filled with water,” added another engineer, as he clarifies on the issue of friction with the politicos.
Not only are the works substandard but we are expected to release bills for work which has not been done
