Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday delivered a direct and emphatic message to 132 newly appointed Junior Engineers of the Public Works Department: public money is a trust, and those entrusted with spending it must honour that responsibility with absolute honesty, integrity and professionalism. The appointment orders were distributed at a formal ceremony held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre in Srinagar, marking the induction of the fresh recruits into J&K’s engineering workforce.
Speaking at the function, Abdullah made clear that the letters of appointment were not merely administrative documents but represented the hopes and expectations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He urged the engineers to approach their careers with a sense of civic duty, reminding them that roads, bridges, hospitals and public buildings built with taxpayer money must be durable, functional and built to last.
“Public money is trust. It must be spent with utmost honesty and accountability,” he said, adding that infrastructure should stand the test of time and not deteriorate after the first monsoon. “Citizens do not expect freshly laid roads to be damaged after a single spell of rain,” the Chief Minister noted.
Abdullah called upon the young engineers to resist the temptation of seeking convenient postings and to serve wherever they are deployed, including in remote and underserved areas of the Union Territory. He stressed that government service, by its very nature, demands sacrifice and that serving in far-flung regions is as important, if not more so, than working in urban centres.
The Chief Minister also acknowledged the practical challenges that engineers on the ground must navigate, including the ongoing difficulty with bitumen procurement that has slowed down road blacktopping work in certain areas. However, he was firm that challenges cannot become excuses for non-performance. “We may not always have ideal situations, but our commitment to public service must remain intact,” he said.
Describing the incoming engineers as key architects of J&K’s future development, Abdullah said the next three decades of their careers would directly shape the Union Territory’s infrastructure landscape. He urged them to foster a culture of quality from day one, building a professional legacy that communities would remember with pride.
“Let every road, bridge and public building become a testimony to your professionalism and commitment,” he concluded.
