Along with the rest of the nation, the 52nd Engineers Day was observed here in Nagaland by the office of Engineer-in-Chief, NPWD on Thursday. Under the theme ‘Engineering for Change’, the event was held at the Engineer-in-Chief Conference Hall, NPWD Complex, Kohima.
Er Kahuli Sema, Engineer-in-Chief, NPWD delivered the keynote address by honouring God who she said has assigned mankind to develop the world and thus created engineers. and she quoted “God is the Engineer of Everything”.
Citing on the theme ‘Engineering for Change’, Sema said engineers play an important role in nation building and has a huge responsibility in different fields. She urged the engineers in attendance to be sincere and dedicated in their service.
Er I Tiameran, Chief Engineer, NPWD (Housing), Nagaland gave a brief presentation on ‘Vision Document of NPWD Housing’. He said Nagaland state has 5,377 government residential buildings of various types from Type I to VIP Bungalow as per PWD Housing Building inventory 2019. With these buildings mostly constructed during the 1960s and ‘70s, he said some are now beyond economical repair, having outlived its building age.
Tiameren mentioned that as of 31 March 2021, Nagaland State has around 1,23,182 employees as per Nagaland State government payroll. However, only a fraction of the government employees is benefiting from living in government accommodation while the rest are either residing in their own private houses or paying high rent fees living in rented houses.
Er I Tiameran: PWD Housing Nagaland has set a target to achieve affordable housing in all the district headquarters by 2030.
The chief engineer said in order to overcome the issue of accommodation shortage in the housing sector, PWD Housing Nagaland has set a target to achieve affordable housing in all the district headquarters and town by 2030. The goal is to move from the present government accommodation availability of 4.37% to achieve a target of 5.20% through the construction of 1000 dwelling units which may include rental housing with the latest construction technology.
Tiameren further said in order to achieve the target, Nagaland Housing Board needs to be reactivated with a new strengthened Nagaland Housing policy that has an objective of providing affordable housing to all economic groups of people and maintain uniformity in all the districts and towns of Nagaland.
Er Hozheto Shikhu, President of Association of Engineer NPWD highlighted the significance of Engineers Day –15 September is observed as Engineers Day to mark the birth anniversary of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya popularly known as M V, the first Indian civil engineer, statesman in India in recognition of his achievement.
Earlier, other chief engineers also spoke during the event which was chaired by Er Moasashi, Chief Engineer PWD, Mechanical.
