Palike may scrap EiC

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Siddaiah has reportedly decided to abolish the post of Engineer in Chief (EiC) in the Palike. However, it has not gone down well with some of the chief engineers.

Chief Engineer M Rangaraju who is second in the seniority list of engineers, wants to replace the present EiC B T Ramesh, set to retire this month end.

To his convenience, the senior most chief engineer N Devaraj has already given in writing to the Commissioner that he was not interested in the top post.

When Rangaraju submitted his application to be the next EiC, Commissioner Siddaiah, reportedly told him there was no need for the post, which did not have any sanction and was merely an internal administrative arrangement.

This has enraged Rangaraju. “Why did the thought of abolishing the post (EiC) not arise when Jayaprakash, L Satyanarayana, N Gopalaswamy and B T Ramesh were made the EiC? It's a clear case of denying the post to me,” he said. “If I am denied the post, I will certainly challenge it in an appropriate forum.”

Most of the chief engineers, however, are reluctant to take up the post. Rumours were rife that Chief Engineer (Storm Water Drain) Ananthaswamy was also a keen aspirant to the post, but he has outrightly rejected the rumours. “These are mere rumours. I do not want that post. Somebody has given you wrong information,” Ananthaswamy clarified.

As the post is not sanctioned by the State government, most of the chief engineers are unwilling to occupy the post.