Coimbatore Corporation on team strengthening mode
As the Coimbatore Corporation races against time to begin implementing infrastructure schemes under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, it has made an appeal to the State Government to increase the strength of its engineering wing by sanctioning new posts such as that of a Chief Engineer.Mayor R. Venkatachalam said on Wednesday that the Corporation wanted to increase the strength to 215 posts to handle the schemes coming under the mission. The present strength was only 71. "We submitted (on Wednesday) an appeal for the new wing to the Commissioner of Municipal Administration Niranjan Mardi," the Mayor said. Mr. Mardi was here for a review meeting with the Mayor and the Corporation officials.
There is already pressure on the Corporation from the Councillors not to bring routine road and drainage works under the mission. This puts the existing department in a predicament - to handle both the routine works and the mission projects. Already understaffed in various departments, the Corporation made out a strong case to the Commissioner for a substantial increase in the number of officials and staff in the engineering department, Mr. Venkatachalam said.
The Mayor indicated that even as project reports were being prepared, the Corporation was forced to spend a lot to time every day on discussing the formation of even an exclusive wing to implement the mission. If the Government sanctions the new posts, the Corporation will have, for the first time, a Chief Engineer and two Superintending Engineers. So far, only the City Engineer has been the highest authority in the engineering wing. Civic body officials pointed out that at present there is a Superintending Engineer only in Chennai for all the Corporations put together. The seeking of these two posts pointed out to the urgent need for the formation of the wing, the Mayor said.
These posts apart, the others sought for the wing include (with the number of posts in brackets): Executive Engineer (4), Assistant Executive Engineer (19), Assistant Junior Engineer (36), Technical Assistant (68) and Skilled Assistant (Grade I- 67 and Grade II- 54).
Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran had already written to the State Government in February seeking additional posts. A fresh representation was made on Wednesday to draw the attention of the Government to the tight situation the Corporation was in, owing to both shortage of staff and also the need for high-level engineers.
Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran had already written to the State Government in February seeking additional posts. A fresh representation was made on Wednesday to draw the attention of the Government to the tight situation the Corporation was in, owing to both shortage of staff and also the need for high-level engineers.
