Anil Baijal gives financial powers to engineers

New Delhi: In a bid to speed up the decision-making process, lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal has approved a PWD proposal to delegate financial powers to the department’s engineering officers. The engineer-in-chief, who did not have financial powers earlier, can now take a decision on works that cost between Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore.

A senior government official said that 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 among others, the official said.

According to an order issued by the Delhi government’s finance department, an executive engineer can take decisions on projects that cost less than Rs 30 lakh. “The lieutenant-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.