The Surveyor cadre, a civilian service under the Military Engineer Services (MES), have decided to wear black bands to protest against A.K. Singh, (Director General Personnel), in the Defence Ministry, who is retiring on August 31. This they allege is to show their displeasure against his biased policies.
“It is highlighted that present DG (Personnel) A.K. Singh is acting like D-G Indian Defence Service of Engineers (IDSE) and working against the interest of other cadre. The following are the main act of present DG (Pers) AK Singh against Surveyor cadre,” Narendra Saigal, President of Indian Defence Contract Service Officers Association (IDCMSOA) said in a letter to Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra dated August 20.
Mr. Saigal detailed five complaints against Mr. Singh and said, “It has been decided that on the day of the farewell of Mr. Singh, the Surveyor cadre shall wear a black band.”
Mr. Saigal also requested other MoD civilian cadres – Architect and Barracks and Stores – to join the protest.
The major complaint against Mr. Singh is “creating confusion with respect to the Surveyor cadre that they are not an organised cadre”, which Mr. Saigal said was stated by the Personnel Directorate on Feb 17, 2009 via an RTI inquiry that “the Surveyor Cadre is an organised Group A service.”
Tipping point
Other complaints include writing to the Defence Secretary to merge Surveyor and IDSE cadre without consulting all stakeholders, delaying finalisation of service rules of surveyor cadre which led to non-filing of one ADG post since February 2017 and hindering placing of surveyor cadre officer in the Personnel Directorate.
