A deputation of Jammu and Kashmir Mechanical Graduates Association (JKMEGA) called on the Minister for Finance, Culture, Labour and Employment, Dr Haseeb A Drabu here today.Headed by JKMEGA President, Er Firdous Ahad Bhat, the deputation sought the intervention of the Finance Minister in addressing the long-pending demands of the Mechanical Engineering fraternity including running grades, enhancement in Frequent Travel Allowance (FTA), creation of Mechanical Engineering division for Mughal Road and keeping provision of posts for the mechanical engineers in newly created Disaster Management Department.The deputation informed the Minister that as a part of the Assured Career Progression every engineer upon his promotion to the next post must be provided the grade and pay of the post on which he/she has been promoted. “However, that is not the case for the engineering fraternity where most of the engineers presently working as Executive Engineers/ AEEs /AEs are still working in the grades of JE inspite of their appointment decades back,” the deputation said.
Pressing for enhancement of FTA, the deputation said that FTA being provided to an engineer is just Rs 30 per month. “This allowance has been fixed decades back and has not been revised till date. An engineer has to travel a lot from office to site and a meager amount of Rs 30 per month can't be justified as travel charges in the ever-increasing inflation,” the deputation said.The issue of setting up of Mechanical Engineering Division for Mughal Road and creation of posts of Mechanical Engineers in the Disaster Management Department was also discussed with the Minister. The deputation also pleaded with the Finance Minister about preventing the closure of Stores and Procurement Department and requested him to provide financial support for enhancing the efficiency and standards of the said department by way of setting up a high-tech material testing laboratory in the department.The Minister gave a patient hearing to the deputation and assured that their genuine demands would be looked into and addressed in time-bound manner.