Srinagar, Aug 6 (IANS): A dozen in-house engineering wings in various departments have been abolished in Jammu and Kashmir while several wings have been reorganised to bring speed, quality and cost control in the different projects, officials said.

The Administrative Council sanctioned the merger/subsuming of in-house engineering wings in various departments/organisations, which include tourism, school, higher and technical education, agriculture production, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries, floriculture, hospitality and protocol, estates, DMRRR, forest, transport with effect from December 1, 2020.

The Administrative Council directed that the user departments whose engineering wings are being subsumed shall, however, retain the power of prioritisation and identification of works and their administrative approvals.

An official statement said that this decision will bring better quality, faster execution and lower costs in construction projects.

The decision is aimed at addressing the issues being faced by various existing in-house engineering wings which broadly include shifting of focus of the departments from their core objectives to construction activities, mushrooming of engineering wings, inconsistency in the estimation processes due to unrevised SoPs, absence of uniform standards and procedures and poor implementation.

The Administrative Council further directed the constitution of a committee of concerned administrative secretaries along with domain experts to work out the modalities for merger/repatriation/deputation of staff from the subsumed wings to PWD, Jal Shakti or PDD as the case may be. The Committee is required to submit its recommendation by September 15, 2020.

The Administrative Council also decided to constitute a committee under the chairmanship of the Administrative Secretary, Public Works, to suggest restructuring of PWD (R&B) with additional units/wings/verticals to cater to the needs of regional units and specialised wings.