By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 31 May: Jaipal Singh, Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, who was due to retire today has been granted extension of service. Indications in this regard were available during the past few days and some of the senior engineers of the Irrigation Department were opposing this proposed move of the government. However, ignoring all the opposition in this regard, Jaipal Singh was granted extension of service for 6 months or till further arrangements.
Similar speculation is rife about possible extension to the PWD Chief Engineer soon, while the search is on for the new Chief of BRIDCUL.
As usual, the government has taken the pretext of some important projects being handled by Jaipal as the reason behind his extension. The government has pointed out that under Jaipal Singh, important projects like Satpuli Lake / Baliyanala Haldapani Landslide / Song Dam / Jamrani Dam Project, etc., are being implemented and an extension will ensure that these projects are completed within time.
In addition, the government has also pointed out that at present there is no other engineer in the Irrigation Department working on the post of Level 1 Chief Engineer and therefore it is natural to grant extension to Jaipal Singh under the special circumstances besides keeping in view his work experiences and technical qualifications. The extension granted to Jaipal Singh is being opposed within the Irrigation Department by several senior engineers, allegedly including the main aspirant and the seniormost engineer after Jaipal Singh, Subhash Pandey.
It may be pertinent to remind here that posts like Chief Engineers in various Engineering Departments or Corporation generate a lot of interest and it is claimed that appointment to these posts involves various other considerations besides the actual need and merit. The files for such appointments are cleared usually at the Chief Minister’s level though the departmental ministers also play a role.
The government is also involved in a long running exercise regarding appointment on the post of HOD and Chief Engineer in Public Works Department.
It is being speculated that the current PWD Chief Deepak Yadav may also be granted extension as he is considered close to many higher ups in the government. In this eventuality, the main aspirant to the post of HOD PWD, NP Singh may be given charge of the MD with BRIDCUL in order to pacify him. It may be recalled that Deepak Yadav has already been granted extension of service once already for a period of 6 months and in case he is given extension, it will be the second extension given to him. In PWD, several senior engineers are trying hard for this post. Chief Engineer NP Singh is one of the main contenders for the post of HOD, PWD, but indications are that to pacify him, the government may appoint him as MD BRIDCUL (Bridge Ropeway Tunnel and Other Infrastructure Development Corporation).
