Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday inaugurated the 73rd annual conference and welcome ceremony of ‘Platinum Jubilee Era’ of Odisha Diploma Engineers’ Association at Institute of Engineers here.
The association, established in 1944, completed 75 years of existence and marked 2019 as their platinum-jubilee year had the Chief Minister as the chief guest. Finance Minister Shashi Bhusan Behera, and Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy were the other guests at the function.
The two-day event also witnessed with unveiling of ‘Techno Scribe,’ a special edition of the organisation’s monthly magazine.
“During the last 75 years, the condition of engineers in the state improved significantly,” said Sachitra Mohan Raul, general secretary of the organisation. At the same time, he reminded that about 8,000 diploma engineers are demanding their job be elevated to Grade-B, while the government should apply the Modified Career Progression Scheme (MACP) with immediate effect. In addition, the promotion rate of engineers in the state should be around 50%, he demanded.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the engineers are key for growth in any economy. “We have moved close to completing many objectives we had planned. The contribution of engineers is invaluable and, thus, their demands need to be heard. We are working on these demands.”
Apart from the dignitaries, the function was also attended by many senior and former engineers and students of the organisation.