'Attitudes towards engineers change'

For the election of the 33rd Central Executive Committee of the Nepal Engineers Association, the Greater National Progressive Alliance has said that it will change the attitude of the society towards engineers.

At a press meet organized by the Coalition here today, Dr. Suraj Lamichhane, the Coalition's presidential candidate, said that the attitude towards engineers would change as engineers are still in the society. He said that coordination between the engineer and the society would be made. He said that even if they study engineering now, they have to work for the minimum wage. "Engineers are now being offered a minimum wage in the name of internships," he said.

He said that even though more than 6,000 engineers are produced annually, there is no manpower consumption according to SOA. According to him, only one thousand engineers create jobs every year. He argued that if one senior engineer hired two engineers, one thousand could be employed.

At present, there are 67 engineers in 52 different disciplines across the country. Of them, 22,000 are registered with the Nepal Engineers Association. Presidential candidate Dr. Lamichhane's group has won the election with various 33-point agendas. He said that there are competent, worthy and honest candidates in his group and he will win.

He said that an engineering staff college would be set up to connect those who have studied engineering with new technology. He said that maximum cooperation would be extended with the Nepal Engineering Council and the university for improving the quality of engineering education.

Dr. Bhesh Raj Thapa, the candidate for the post of General Secretary from the alliance, said that the rights and interests of the engineers would be linked with the state. He said that they would change the attitude of the society towards engineers. Chairman of the Progressive Engineers Group Shambhu Bahadur Shrestha said that the candidates from the alliance were capable, committed and sincere to take the lead.

He said that victory was assured as the agenda raised by them belonged to the overall engineer. The election of the 33rd Executive Committee to be held on March 10 is being held simultaneously. Five groups are in the fray for the election. Elections are being held for a total of 130 office bearers and members, 18 in the center and 16 in the states (112 in total). Deukaji Gurung is the Vice President, Shivaram KC is the Deputy General Secretary, Dr. Anand Singh is the Treasurer and Arjun Poudel is the Co-Treasurer.

Similarly, Dr. Bhim Kumar Dahal, Baburam Bhandari, Vasant Lingthep, Dr. Ajay Kumar Jha and Bandana Subedi have nominated their members for the Engineering Council. In order to protect the rights and interests of engineers, the association will be developed as a strong guardian organization, engineers from all over the world will be able to participate in the upcoming elections through online elections.