Former chief of Delhi Metro, E. Sreedharan, has come down heavily on the lack of a regulatory body to certify engineers in the country. He was speaking after inaugurating the Engineer’s Day celebrations at UL Cyber Park here on Tuesday.
“Engineers have to play a dominant role in the economic growth of the country. But, look at the scenario, the way the profession is being practised in the country. We are producing too many engineers, but what's the standard? A recent national survey revealed that out of the qualifying engineering graduates, only 20 per cent are really employable. Thirty per cent of them need to be trained before employing and 50 per cent is just not employable,” he said.
“Engineering ethics are very important for nation-building. One-and-a-half lakh people die on the roads a year due to poor engineering. It is not the number but the quality that matters. Attitude, ethics, values and principles are more important,” Dr. Sreedharan said. The eminent engineer added that the lack of a statutory regulatory body for engineers allowed every graduating engineer to practise and the results were repeated accidents.
Mr Sreedharan had written about these shortcomings to the Centre and on the basis of his letter, a draft of the professional engineers Bill is being prepared. M.S Ananth, former director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, is heading the committee.
The first draft of the Bill, aimed at regulating the engineering practices in the country, has been submitted to the Ministry, which is reported to have recommended changes. Mr Sreedharan said that not only the controversial Palarivattom bridge in the State but there were many other reports of tragedies throughout the country.
Dr. A. Achyuthan, eminent environmentalist and engineer, was honoured at the event.
He observed that engineering should be for sustainable change.
The event was jointly organised by the Institution of Engineers India (IEI) Kozhikode Centre and Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), was attended by over 200 engineers. Technical sessions were held as part of the State-level workshop titled ‘Engineering for Change - Rebuild Kerala’.
IEI Kozhikode Centre chairman K. Bhaskaran presided over the event. Secretary C Jayaram; ULCCS chairman Remeshan Paleri; Group CEO Raveendran Kasthuri; UL Education director Dr T.P. Sethumadhavan; and ULCCS CGM (projects) Rohan Prabhakar, spoke at the event.