Lt Governor gives financial powers to PWD engineers

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 21

The Public Works Department (PWD) can now do development work easily as Lt Governor Anil Baijal has approved a PWD proposal to delegate financial powers to the department's engineering officers to speed-up decision-making processes.

With this approval, the engineer-in-chief, who did not have financial powers earlier, could now take a decision on works that cost between Rs 4 crore and Rs 5 crore.

The LG has approved the PWD proposal just after next day when Engineer-in-Chief Sarvagya Kumar Srivastava had taken a review meeting of the works.

A senior government official said the move also intends to ensure the accountability of area officers concerned and completion of projects on time.

Earlier, the chief engineer and the secretary had financial powers only to carry out works such as maintenance of roads, installation of road signs, marking of roads, etc.,the official said.

According to an order issued by the Finance Department of the Delhi government, an executive engineer can take decisions on projects that cost less than Rs 30 lakh.

"The Lt Governor has given his nod to the proposal seeking financial powers for engineering officers at various levels. According to the order, a superintendent engineer can execute the department's works costing between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 1 crore," the official said.

The principal chief engineer has been given financial powers to execute works that cost between Rs 2 crore and Rs 4 crore, he said.