Ranchi, Nov. 24: Engineers working with the state were in a mood to protest.

In a stark revelation, engineers employed with the Jharkhand government today alleged that a “jungle law” has put them at the mercy of criminals.

“Chaos prevails in all the works departments of the state government from the public works department, roads, building and construction, rural engineering, drinking water and sanitation to the minor irrigation department. Junior engineers are arbitrarily being made the head of departments while one engineer is being given the charge of a number of posts,” Prayag Dubey, the president of the Engineering Services Co-ordination Committee told The Telegraph.

In a letter to the chief minister, the committee pointed out that with complete lawlessness prevailing in the state departments, a growing number of engineers were being targeted by criminals across the state.

While Om Prakash Rai, assistant engineer posted in Daltonganj, was shot dead by criminals after he refused to accede to their demands, Sudarshan Choubey, another executive engineer posted at Hazaribagh, was attacked by criminals though he was lucky to make a narrow escape.

No compensation was announced for the kin of deceased engineer Om Prakash Rai while none offered to fund the medical expenses for severely injured engineer Sudarshan Choubey.

The letter added that engineers waiting for their posting were made to wait for anything between six and 12 months. All norms of seniority and promotions were flouted, failure of the departments to spell out a concrete transfer policy and blatant misuse of powers by the top bosses had ruined the morale of the entire workforce, much to the detriment of the state.

Further, it was chaos when engineers were often inducted for law and order duty, it added.

The committee requested the urgent intervention of the chief minister with a request that they be called for consultations at the earliest possible time.