A case of good vs bad in the reverse

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI, OCT. 7.

A compounder heading a team of specialist doctors performing an open heart surgery! Sounds strange, but this is precisely what the Delhi Development Authority seems to have been doing by appointing officials against posts they do not qualify for forcing the more competent and qualified professionals to work under them.

As per the information available, majority of the Assistant Directors and Deputy Directors of the DDA -- responsible for building Delhi -- are merely matriculates and intermediates. They have been performing technical jobs which generally should have been performed by well qualified and experienced engineers. Still worse, these ``unqualified officials'' have been assessing the work of engineers working under them.

Even a large number of the present DDA Directors do not academically qualify for the post they hold. For instance, one of the senior official responsible for land acquisition and demolitions joined the DDA as a mere stenographer, while the other incharge of industrial and institutional lands has risen from the post of a Lower Division Clerk (LDC).

Insiders in the DDA rued that this has been one of the prime reason for all the ``malpractice'' here and was giving a ``bad name'' to the Authority. It is not that this fact has not been known to top DDA officials. Such strong has been the grip of this lobby -- most of whom occupy the top post now -- that they have been systematically able to frame rules and regulations to suit their interest.

Curiously, the resolution (No. 106 of 1976) and order (No. F.7(24)/75-G-A (I) of 1978) that went on to do the damage and apparently gave legitimacy to such appointments were passed when the present Union Urban Minister, Mr. Jagmohan, was at the helm of affairs as Vice-Chairmen of the Authority in the late 70s. ``This has been the prime reason for the present mess prevailing in DDA,'' a top DDA official said.

A case in point is promotional avenues granted to surveyors. Having a matriculation certificate and with an year of diploma from a Industrial Training Institute, these surveyors have now been promoted to the post of Assistant Directors and Deputy Directors, despite the fact that they are completely unqualified to oversee and supervise the work that should have been done by engineers including checking of unauthorised construction, and misuse of properties.

``For instance, the surveyors are not qualified to check the structural stability of a building, industrial structures and deviations and unauthorised constructions. Still these serious duties have been entrusted to them, thus compromising with the safety of the building,'' sources said, adding: ``Only the engineers having requisite qualification were competent to check the structures ensuring its conformity with the building bye-law and its stability.''

In fact the action of the DDA in bringing Group C employees to Group B and Group A, has resulted in these surveyors assessing the performance of more qualified and competent engineers. ``As a result, the inefficiency of the DDA is there for all to see,'' the official alleged.

Pointing to the rule book of Central Public Works Department which is followed by the DDA, a senior official said: ``According to it, the post of a surveyor are in Class III category and are non-promotional. But this has not been followed here. Thus the present chaos and mess.''

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