New Delhi : President Pranab Mukherjee has said the Engineering Service can provide the officers an opportunity to serve the society and added that they would be entrusted with tremendous opportunities at a young age.
Mukherjee told a group of officers of Indian Engineering Services (2013 and 2014 batches) and officer trainees of Indian Engineering Service (2015 batch), who called on him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here, that they should give back to society as the society had invested in them.
“Besides, they should remember Mahatma Gandhi’s talisman of thinking of the welfare of the poorest of the poor in order to arrive at correct decisions. If they consider their job as a mission, they would be able to have maximum job satisfaction,” he added.
Asserting India today has a large pool of technically competent engineers, President Mukherjee said engineers are engaged in key infrastructure sectors.
“We can be proud of what we have achieved since independence. From barely one million ton of steel production at the time of independence, we now produce over 90 million ton annually. From less than one lakh automobiles per year in 1947, we are now the sixth largest producer of automobiles at 4.1 million. At 644 million ton, we are the world’s third largest producer of coal. In cement production, we are behind only China with an annual output of 270 million ton. India has 462 million users of internet with large penetration of the population,” he said.
President Mukherjee also said the ICT sector with over one billion mobile phones is turning out to be a major platform for the next stage of growth and transformation in the country.
“India has the second largest road network in the world with a road length of 4.7 million kilometre. Our road network transports more than 60 percent of all goods and 85 percent of passenger traffic in the country. The value of our roads and bridges infrastructure asset, which was US$ 6.9 billion (roughly Rs. 46,000 crore at today’s exchange rate) in 2009, is expected to reach US$ 19.2 billion (or approximately Rs. 1.3 lakh crore) next year. However, we must continue to strive to move forward keeping in mind the development requirements of our country and its huge population,” he added.
Officers of Indian Engineering Service of 2013 and 2014 batches are presently posted in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways as Assistant Executive Engineers while officer trainees of 2015 batch are undergoing 35 weeks foundation training at CPWD Training Institute, Ghaziabad. (ANI)