Definition row: CM assures relief to diploma holders

PANJIM, OCT 20
Diploma holders, who feared losing their recognition as ‘engineers’ got a temporary relief with chief minister assuring to look into their grievances.
Thousand-odd diploma holders who are currently practicing as structural engineers and had registered after 1995 were not eligible to be registered as ‘engineers’ after recent amendment of ‘The Goa (Regulation of Land Development and Building Constructions) Act 2008 and the Land Development and Building Constructions Regulation 2010’.
The three member delegation of Registered Civil Engineers Association (RCEA) (diploma holders) along with Curtorim MLA Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco today met Chief Minister Digamber Kamat at his official residence at Altinho.
“We explained to them, how this new amendment is going to affect the livelihood of more then 1000 diploma holders in civil engineering. He has now assured that the Act would be amended in the next assembly session,” Lourenco told reporters after the meeting.
He said that chief minister has agreed to act as per the earlier guidelines of the Act, according to which structural diploma holder with ten years field experience would be registered as engineers. “The degree holder would require three years experience,” he stated.
The meeting also decided that the point of registering before 1995 would not be considered now.
 “Every year nearly 120 students holds diploma in their hand and after an experience of ten years they register themselves as engineers. If this acts comes into force, all these diploma institutions will have to shut down,” RCEA, treasurer, Mario Almeda, said.
He added saying that the act will curtail several rights of the diploma engineers.