Mumbai: BMC-SRA spat leaves eleven engineers sans work or salary

The state government has said that the BMC is to blame for this mess as it sent the engineers to SRA without following the procedure laid down by the housing department File picBureaucratic red tape has left 11 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC engineers posted in the Slum Rehabilitation Authority SRA without pay for the last eight months Despite being posted in the SRA after clearing internal exams these engineers were not assigned any work as the officials they were supposed to replace have not been relieved yetSeveral letters have been exchanged between BMC and SRA but to no avail The BMC has written repeatedly to the state government mdash principal secretary housing department mdash as well to resolve the issue but nothing has happenedWithout pay for more than half a year the engineers are struggling to manage their families and homes even for basic needsJust job no workThey said they have been forced to dip into their savings which too are steadily depleting ldquoWe are struggling to run our homes For the last eight months we have been treated like a football kicked between the SRA and BMC Initially we used to go to office and wait there the whole day But even now the existing engineers have not been transferred so we are helplessrdquo said one of the engineersThe five assistant engineers and six subengineers were earning between Rs 50000 and Rs 70000 a month while working with the BMCAccording to civic officials last year then chief executive officer CEO Aseem Gupta had sent a request to the BMC asking it to provide 12 engineers The civic body conducted an exam and posted 12 eligible civic engineers However out of the 12 one was arrested by the AntiCorruption Bureau for taking a bribe in FebruaryThe waiting gameTired of waiting and not getting posted in SRA the engineers recently sent a letter to Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta asking that they be recalled but even that doesnrsquot seem to be working out said an officialConsidering the seriousness of the issue on September 21 Housing Minister Prakash Mehta and Additional Municipal Commissioner IA Kundan sent a letter a copy of which is with midday to the state government requesting that a decision on these engineersrsquo fate be taken at the earliestMehtarsquos letter states ldquoFor the last eight months 11 civic engineers are waiting for their posting as well as salary Why no action has been taken Please take necessary action as soon as possiblerdquoSome engineers are alleging that itrsquos nothing but a tussle between the BMC SRA and state government that has left them in the lurchOne said ldquoWe are suffering for no mistake of ours If there is any issue between departments then at least send us back to the BMC There are 20 vacant posts in the SRA in spite of that the government is not ready to take usrdquoBMC to blameA senior official from the state government blamed the civic body for the problem saying it didnrsquot follow rules ldquoWhile posting these engineers into SRA the BMC didnrsquot follow a government resolution The civic body has ignored the housing departments set procedure during the appointment of these engineers and hence there is no question of giving them postings in SRArdquo added the officialldquoThe BMC has relieved these engineers without government order So we are not responsible for their salary Appointment in SRA is done by government orders not by the BMCrdquo Additional Municipal Commissioner IA Kundan was unavailable for comment while Principal Secretary Housing Shrikant Singh refused to commentSpeaking to midday CEO of SRA Vishwas Patil said ldquoThe final decision regarding the issue will be taken by the government A meeting of the screening committee which finalises appointments is likely to be held soon I am also hoping for a positive outcome from itrdquoThe screening committee includes municipal commissioner principal secretary and other officials