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To
The Respected Advertiser,

Sub: CELEBRATION OF RADHANATH SIKDAR’S BIRTH BICENTENARY

Dear Sir/ Madam,

“Forum of Survey Engineers & Technologists, West Bengal (FOSET, WB)” has decided to celebrate the Bicentenary of the legendary Mathematician, Surveyor and Trigonometrician Babu Radhanath Sikdar through a host of events through 2013 –’14.

In this regard we would like to inform you that FOSET, WB has taken a host of programmes including (i) Installing a statue of Radhanath Sikder at The Survey of India, Kolkata Campus, (ii) Producing a documentary film on Radhanath Sikder, (iii) Creating Honorary Chairs of Professorship at Presidency College and The Asiatic Society, (iv) Proposing for renaming of Wood Street in Kolkata as Radhanath Sikder Sarani, (v) Organizing seminars on the Survey trade and education in India, with focus on future developments and many more.

Honorable Chief Whip, Government of West Bengal; Honorable MICs of Department of Labor and Department of I&W Govt. of West Bengal; Engineer-in-Chief, WRID; Chief Engineers of PWD, I&W and WRD Departments of Govt. of W.B; Director, NATMO; Dy. Director, NATMO; Addl. Survey General, Survey of India; have given their consent to become members of the advisory committee for the Bicentenary Celebrations of Radhanath Sikdar.

Concerning the Bicentenary Celebrations, we are going to print a brochure for circulation to all the Government Organizations like Survey of India, and Government Undertakings like SAIL, Coal India etc., where Survey is a major activity. 150 copies of the 12 page brochure will be printed in 11 X 8 inches size in color Digital. We solicit a full back cover page advertisement from your end at only Twenty Thousand rupees (20000/-). With your assistance we will be able to make the programme a success. In return your esteemed organization will also be benefitted by getting acquainted with the leading Government organizations and the Maharatna companies.

Hope you will consider the proposal and grant the Back Cover advertisement within 7 days to enable us to proceed with the events.

With regards.

  

Asinjit Sarkar

General Secretary

FOSET, WB

Calendar of EVENTS

Calendar of  EVENTS

EVENT	VENUE			DATE
Press conference	Press Club			20th September, 2013, Friday
Panel Discussion on Radhanath Sikdar, Screening of a Documentary Film on Radhanath Sikdar, produced by FOSET, WB. Declaration of the Hon’ Professor’s Chairs at the Presidency University and Asiatic society		Kolkata Town Hall	28th September, 2013, Saturday
A College level quiz on Nature, Geography, Trigonometry and Geospatial science		Ashutosh Centenary Hall	29th September, 2013, Sunday
Renaming ceremony of Wood Street, Unveiling of the statue, Presentation of the portrait to the Asiatic society officials		Survey of India, Campus, Wood Street	20th December, 2013, Friday
Symposium and convention for surveyors and survey students to discuss the issues regarding to educational and professional development and		Sir R. N. Mookerjee Hall at The Institution of Engineers (India), Kolkata	21st December, 2013, Saturday
National Survey Day Observance		Sir R. N. Mookerjee Hall at The Institution of Engineers (India), Gokhale Road	10th April, 2014, Thursday

RADHANATH SIKDAR’S BIRTH BICENTENARY CELEBRATION

RADHANATH SIKDAR’S BIRTH BICENTENARY CELEBRATION

ORGANISED BY:

FORUM OF SURVEY ENGINEERS & TECHNOLOGISTS, WEST BENGAL

OBJECTIVES OF FOSET, WB

Forum of Survey Engineers & Technologists, West Bengal (FOSET, WB) an organization of Surveyors and survey technologists employed in the different departments of the Government of West Bengal and other civic bodies was initiated on 24^th August 2010 and registered under the societies act on the 15^th of September 2011 with the major objectives being:

(i) To put an end to the age old practice of deprivation subjected to the entire cadre of surveyors.

(ii) To put an end to the practice of non-utilization of the Departmental surveyors.

(iii) To put an end to the practice of avoiding Intermediate Survey & Post Survey even in the Government Departments.

(iv) To eradicate the pay disparity with supervising cadres of the State government and to increase scopes of departmental promotion. 

(v) To fight for the up gradation of survey education & to cater for modernized survey education.

(vi) To provide a platform for development in academics of Survey including Geo-Technical Science, GIS, Remote Sensing and such related subjects.

(vii) To urge Central Organizations like Survey of India to absorb candidates with a graduate background in Survey only, rather than any Science graduates.

FOSET, WB also has the objective of upholding and preserving the history of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India and the doyens associated. It would be noteworthy to mention that the legacy of deprivation of the surveyors since the days of Babu Radhanath Sikdar, who measured the height of Mt. Everest, is still continuing. Some glaring instances of the deprivation need mention.  

Radhanath Sikdar joined the Great Trigonometric Survey in 1831 December as a "computor”. Compiling data about Peak XV from six different observations, he eventually came to the conclusion that the Peak XV was the tallest in the world. The norm, strictly followed was that while naming a peak, the local name should be preferred. But in this case, Col. Waugh who was the Director after retirement of Everest made an exception. He paid a tribute to his ex-boss by proposing that the peak be named after Everest. Everest agreed, and Sikdar was conveniently forgotten.

In 1851 a voluminous Survey Manual by Capt. H. L. Thullier and Capt. F. Smyth was published by the Survey Department. The preface to the Manual clearly and specifically mentioned that the more technical and mathematical chapters of the Manual were written by Babu Radhanath Sikdar. The Manual proved to be immensely useful to surveyors. However, the third edition, published in 1875 (i.e., after Sikdar’s death) did not contain that preface, so that Sikdar’s memorable contribution was de-recognized which was referred to as 'robbery of the dead'.

To pay the dues to the doyen of mathematics and spherical trigonometry, Babu Radhanath Sikdar, FOSET, WB has taken the decision to commemorate Radhanath Sikdar’s Birth Bicentenary during 2013 and 2014.

PROPOSAL FOR CELEBRATION OF RADHANATH SIKDAR’S BIRTH BICENTENARY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SURVEY TRADE AND SURVEYORS

The following proposals were unanimously accepted by the members of the Executive Committee of FOSET, WB to observe the Bicentenary of Radhanath Sikdar.

1)    FOSET, WB intends to propose for the creation of an Honorary Professor Chair in the subject of “Classical Mathematical Science” in Presidency College in the name of Radhanath Sikdar, as well the creation of another Honorary Professor Chair at Asiatic Society in the “Atmospheric & Oceanic Science Committee” in the name of Radhanath Sikdar to commemorate his membership in this Society in the year of 1853. Radhanath's mathematical expertise won him in 1864 a Corresponding Membership of the Society of Natural History, Bavaria - a rare honour in those days to be awarded to a foreigner by the highly conservative German Philosophical Society.

2)     FOSET, WB intends to propose to the concerned authorities to rename “WOOD STREET”, on which lies the Survey of India Campus at Kolkata as “RADHANATH SIKDAR SARANI” to keep his memory alive.

3)     FOSET, WB intends to install a statue of Radhanath Sikdar at Survey of India Campus at Wood Street, and to donate a portrait of Radhanath to the Asiatic Society for display there.

4)     FOSET, WB intends to produce a documentary film on Radhanath Sikdar to commemorate the achievements of the forgotten mathematician and surveyor who has remained mostly unknown even to his countrymen.

5)     FOSET, WB intends to restore Radhanath’s dilapidated house at Gondalpara, Chandannagar.

6)     FOSET, WB has planned to initiate the task of familiarization of modern survey instruments among Pass-out Surveyors & Employed Surveyors.

************

 

FORUM OF SURVEY ENGINEERS & TECHNOLOGISTS,

WEST BENGAL

(Regd. No: S/1L/82933 of 2011-2012)

fosetwb@gmail.com; www.fosetwb.blogspot.com

SHOVA NIVAS; 19, CHANDI GHOSH ROAD; KOLKATA- 700040,

Ref No: L/20/12                                                                                                             Dated: 20/11/2012

To

The Chief Engineer

Municipal Engineering Directorate

Bikash Bhavan; Salt Lake

Kolkata 700001

Respected Sir,

            Apropos Hon’ble MIC, Deptts. of M.A & U.D. note on 13/03/012 forwarded vide No: MIC/144-D/2012 dated 16/03/2012 and letter of Deputy Secretary; Department of Municipal Affairs vide  No: 195/MA/N/C-8/ME/2M-02/12 dated 1^st August 2012 and reminded vide letter No: 257/MA/N/C-8/ME/2M-02/12 dated 27^th September 2012  which were necessitated us to request you to put your valuable comments on our demands referring to Surveyor’s pay scale and group of service which remains, according to our experience, much anomalous since 1978.

The demands as noted below needs to be considered in three phases;

1)      Regarding service of the “Very Specialised Cadre”, it is seen that the first ROPA Committee recognised Surveyors under the Sub-Ordinate Engineering Service which was cemented in the Apex Court judgement by being declared this category of employee “Purely Technical Cadre” vide Appeal (Civil) No: 1179 of 2002 in the matter of “Deb Narayan Shyam & Ors –Vs- State of WB & Ors” (2004), INSC 727 (1 December, 2004) by the Division Bench of Hon’ble Justice B. N. Agrawal & Hon’ble Justice A.K Mathur [Annexed “A”].

But surprisingly no initiative was taken by the next Pay Commissions to reconsider the issue after this cadre was dumped into common category along-with clerical ones by the 2^nd Pay Commission since 1980.

Points of Observation: It is to mention here, that, 5^th State Pay Commission considered the Work Assistant (Scale No. 6, pre-revised) as a “Technical Cadre”. In taking account of recruitment rules & pay structure of Surveyor (Scale No. 9, pre-revised) & Work Assistant it is obvious that the Surveyors are having higher side in respect of both qualification and pay scale. The cadre of Surveyor is highly specialised and very much a “Technical Cadre” whose curriculum is recognised by the Director General of Employment & Training and National Council of Vocational Training, Govt. of India and Survey Education Advisory Board and Technical Education & Training, Govt. of West Bengal. So they fully deserve to be included in the Sub-Ordinate Service, as recommended by the 1^st Pay Commission. It is also to be mentioned that the 5^th Pay Commission surprisingly recommended upgrading Work Assistant to SAE by offering departmental training.

2)      Pay scale anomaly is very much evident in relation to the cadre counterpart in Govt. of India’s various departments wherein Surveyors with same & equal qualifications get the requisite pay of the Sub-Ordinate status as per the 6^th Central Pay Commission. Furthermore, anomaly within State Govt.’s department varying from scale No. 7(Surveyors of some U.L.B) to scale No. 9 and even offering scale No. 10 (Archeological Survey, Govt. of West Bengal) in stray incidents having equal qualification and status of a Surveyor.

Points of Observation: The historical judgement in Apex Court in the matter of Randhir Singh –Vs- Union Of India & Ors (Ordered on 22 February, 1982) citations: 1982 AIR 879, 1982 SCR (3) 298; Bench: Reddy, O Chinnappa, [Annexed “B”]  stating “Equal pay for equal work” in reference to discrimination in pay benefit and remedy.

Under the statement the Surveyors of your Directorate have every right to be offered with equal pay & benefits as extended to the counterparts in Govt. of India’s various departments.

3)      Surveyors are deprived in their avenue of promotion since independence & the latest functional promotional scope limits them to be elevated to Head Surveyor only with the Scale No. 11  ( pre-revised), which eventually clashes with benefits of MCAS’01 & Grade-I in vogue for the Surveyors dealing with complex nitty-gritties. They are not provided with any systematic promotional channel which is a must for any cadre of employee as per the resolutions of ILO. Fundamental right to promotion on under Article 14 & 16 of the Constitution of India also goes in the favour of the Surveyors.

Points of Observation: Surveyors are potentially eligible for the promotional prospect from the Basic Grade to Grade-I and Head Surveyors with concurrent functions having respective pay scales for each tier of the cadre, keeping in mind that Govt. of West Bengal is offering posts of Surveyor, Grade-I (Scale No.11, pre-revised), Head Surveyor (Scale No. 11, pre-revised), Assistant Survey Officer (Scale No. 12, pre-revised) & Survey Officer (Scale No. 13, pre-revised) in a particular department.

Furthermore, another promotional option prevailing in your Directorate for Draftsman Gd-I (Scale No. 13, pre-revised) may also be extended atleast to the Surveyors of your organisation.

Now, Sir, keeping the entire context in view, I, on behalf of our Forum, seeking your kind opinion and necessary remarks with directives, if any, in this respect as stated above at the earliest possible & oblige.

Thanking You                                                                                                                 Sincerely Yours

                                                   

Encl: As stated

                                                                                                                                    ASINJIT SARKAR

                                                                                                                                     [General Secretary]                                                              FORUM OF SURVEY ENGINEERS & TECHNOLOGISTS, W.B

Letter from CMO