Military Engineer Services (India)

Military Engineer Services

Formation	26 September 1923
Type	Government Organisation
Location	New Delhi
Region	India
Engineer-In-Chief	Lt. Gen. Harpal Singh
Director General (Personnel)	Sh. Mahesh Kumar Gupta, IDSE
Website	www.mes.gov.in

Military Engineer Services (MES) is one of the oldest and largest government defence infrastructure development agencies in India. It is mainly employed in engineering and construction for the Indian Armed Forces, including the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Ordnance Factories, DRDO and the Indian Coast Guard.

Besides conventional building construction for the Armed Forces, Military Engineer Services is also involved in the execution of sophisticated and complex projects, including airfields, buildings, workshops, roads, sports complexes, runways, hangars, dockyards, wharves, and other marine structures.

Military Engineer Services has also been entrusted with the construction of the Indian National War Memorial and the National War Museum.

MES is an Inter-Service Organization with both military and civilian components to officers and other subordinate staff. Whilst the execution of all construction work is carried out through contracts, maintenance services are partly conducted by departmentally employed labour (DEL) as well as by contract.

Army officers from The Corps of Engineers form the military component of the organization. The civilian element is made up of the IDSE (Indian Defense Service Engineers) and IDCMS (Indian Defense Contract Management Service), or Surveyor cadre, which is selected through Indian Engineering Services conducted by the UPSC, along with the Architect cadre and Barrack/Stores cadre. The civilian and military components together are responsible for the efficient working of the organization.

History

MES was established as a construction agency and is one of the pillars of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army that supports back-end engineering development for armed forces. Though it was established as a military organization, personnel with civil backgrounds can serve as officers and support staff. Currently, it is one of the largest government construction and maintenance organizations in India, with a total annual budgetary allocation of approximately Rs 13000 crores. It is also responsible for strategic and operational infrastructure like roads, homes, offices, and residential buildings for all three services and associated organizations of the Ministry of Defense. MES was created and brought under the unified control of an Engineer-in-Chief on 26 September 1923 by the then-Secretary of State of India and by the unification of the Royal Corps of Engineers Personnel and Civilian Staff. The Engineer-in-Chief is the advisor to the Ministry of Defense and its three services on operational and peacetime construction activities. The department is responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of all infrastructure assets of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. To facilitate the efficiency and quality of work, the organization is structured to design works that are executed through contracts under the supervision of officers and staff consisting of qualified civilians and combatants from the Corps of Engineers. To enable integrated work, the members form a multi-disciplinary team of civil, electrical, and mechanical engineers, as well as architects, structural designers, quantity surveyors, and contract specialists for the planning, designing, and supervision of infrastructure assets. The civilian staff of the department is divided into four main categories: engineers, surveyor staff, architects and BSO (all being qualified engineers), and administrative staff.

The organization has historical significance, as it was created more than 200 years ago to execute civilian and military infrastructure. However, until the 18th century, the organization remained as part of the army as the Public Works Department (PWD), controlled by the Indian Corps of Engineers, which operated under the control of a Military Board. In 1851, the PWD was subjected to civilian control, though it remained responsible for military and civil works. Then, in 1881, the military-related works of PWD were segregated and transferred to the military department and were headed by a Director General (a rank created in 1889). Subsequently, the "Army in India" committee (1919–1920) allocated military-related works under the Quarter Master General and the Sappers/Miners-related works under the Chief of the General Staff. These were later combined under Engineer-in-Chief in September 1923.

Since then MES Day is celebrated on 26 September every year. The 90th celebration was celebrated on 26 September 2012, and its theme was "Cementing Bond with Users".

Precursors

Both civil and military engineer services in India began as military service. When the East India Company was extending and consolidating its rule over India in the 18th and 19th centuries, the army's engineering requirements were more predominant than those of other departments.

The first establishment of "engineers" in India was formed in 1748 within the Madras Army. From 1776 to 1818, the "Bengal Sappers and Miners" existed in some form in the Bengal Army, but they officially came into being on 19 February 1819 and were composed of six companies. On 1 April 1862, the two were combined with the Royal Engineers of the British Indian Army, and they were thereafter in the Department of Public Works of Railways or Survey.

As conditions stabilized, the Public Works Department was formed under the control of a "Military Board", staffed by members of the Indian Corps of Engineers and of an entire military character. As civil works became more important, civil engineers were increasingly employed, and provincial governments became dissatisfied with military control over works made on their behalf. The "Public Works Department" was under civil control from 1851, and no separate department was considered necessary for military works. Due to a boom in civil works in 1860, many civil engineers were engaged, and the military began to lose control over military works. This situation was so bad by 1871 that the "Special Military Works Branch" of the Public Works Department was given responsibility for major works; this branch was put under military control ten years later. In 1889, the "Military Works Department" took responsibility for all military works in India; by 1899, it was entirely military in nature and staffed by Royal Engineers. The organization was then renamed "Military Works Services," and then renamed "Military Engineer Services" in 1923, which remains its name to this day.

The senior Royal Engineer officer was known as the "Director-General of Public Works," but in 1921, the position's title was changed to "Director of Works." Then on 4 December 1923, the position of an "Engineer in Chief" was created to control both branches of military engineers (the "Sappers and Miners"/Combat Troops and the "Military Engineer Services").

Indian Defense Service of Engineers (IDSE)

The Indian Defense Service of Engineers (IDSE) is an engineering service that is the backbone of the infrastructure of the Indian Armed Forces. Engineers are selected through the Indian Engineering Services examination conducted by UPSC. They are initially posted as assistant directors (staff appointment) or assistant garrison engineers (executive appointment) and then promoted up to director general (personnel) (HAG level post). When on an executive appointment, these officers are responsible for the overall functioning of their offices by way of providing B/R or E/m services in garrison or on the project. While on staff appointments, they are associated with planning, structural design, legal and personal matters.

Officers who are promoted to EE from AE (departmental promotion from JE level) automatically become part of IDSE Gp A.

Military Officers (Corps of Engineers)

Corps of Engineers Officers and the Military Junior Engineers and Clerical staff form the Military Cadre in the MES. The officers, JCOs, and other ranks are posted to MES Establishments on tenures. Officers' tenure appointments range from Assistant Garrison Engineers to Engineer-in-Chief.

Indian Defense Contract Management Service (IDCMS)

The Indian Defense Contract Management Service (IDCMS) is a civil service of the Government of India. The IDCMS is aGazetted (Group A) of defence-civilian officers under the Ministry of Defense. They are responsible for all the financial matters, including procurement, tendering, contract management, dispute resolution, arbitration, and quantity surveying. IDCMS (Indian Defense Contract Management Service) is one of the organized Group 'A' Services of Union of India under Administrative Control of the Ministry of Defence. IDCMS officers are basically Civil Engineers by qualification who are experts in the field of Public Procurement, Contract Management, Arbitration, Quantity Surveying and negotiating the terms and conditions of Contract and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the Contract to maximize financial and operational performance and minimize risk and disputes.

The officers in this cadre are involved in all the stages of Contract Management, from NIT up to Arbitration and Court Cases. Inter alia is involved in the framing of specifications, detailed contract drafting, competitive bidding, and tenders' analysis and acceptance. IDCMS is the Procurement and Contract Management specialist service of the Central Govt Services.

Hierarchy

Grade	Rank	Designation in Headquarter	Pay Scale
Junior Time Scale	Assistant Executive Engineer	Assistant Director	₹ 56100
Senior Time Scale	Executive Engineer	Deputy Director	₹ 67700
Senior Time Scale (Non-Functional)	Executive Engineer (NFSG)	Joint Director	₹ 78800
Junior Administrative Grade (Functional)	Superintending Engineer	Director	₹ 123100
Senior Administrative Grade	Chief Engineer	Joint Director-General	₹ 144200
Higher Administrative Grade	Additional Director General	ADG Arbitration	₹ 182200

Architect Cadre

Architect cadre officers are responsible for producing the architectural drawings of various buildings and other structures. These officers are posted as Deputy Architects and promoted up to Additional Director General (Arch.)

Barrack & Stores Cadre

The Barrack Service Cadre is as old as Military Engineer Services though it remained under the Control of respective Station Commanders in the initial years during the pre-independence era. The Barrack Organization was originally introduced in 1946 to build up a service of the Barrack Department on the British Army Pattern, eventually to place it under the Army Service Corps as in the United Kingdom. Special Army Order 5/S/48 was issued setting up the Barrack Service by the MES to be ultimately transferred to the OC Station for Revenue Duties. Thus the cadre was responsible to two authorities, one to the MES for furniture and stores and the other to the Station Commander for revenue duties such as handing/taking over of buildings, submission of occupation/vacation returns, issue License Fee Bills, recovery of rent & allied charges from paying consumers in occupation of defence land/buildings, etc. The position was reviewed during 1949, and a Memorandum of Procedure, Organization, and Duties of Barrack Services was issued in July 1949. Accordingly, Barrack Services was made responsible for Revenue duties, and the responsibility of billing was transferred from Station Commander to the BO function independently under Commander Works Engineers. Barrack & Store Branch provides Barrack services in addition to procuring, accounting, stocking/preserving, and issuing of stores, both for works and maintenance. Barrack services include handing/taking over buildings to/from units & officers/staff and providing & maintaining technical & married accent furniture. These services also include regular billing for rent, water, and electricity consumed by service personnel, civilian officers/staff & private parties, and charging for barrack damages whenever they occur. The B/S officers are posted as Barrack Stores OFFICER and promoted up to PRINCIPAL BARRACK STORES OFFICER.

Zones

MES currently has over six hundred stations spread across the mainland and the island territories of India to provide engineering support to various formations of the Army, Air Force, Navy and DRDO. The Military Engineer Services consists of the following zones:

CCE (ARMY) NO 1 DINJAN	CCE (ARMY) NO 2 MISSAMARI	CCE (ARMY) NO 3 NARANGI
CCE (COD) NEW DELHI	CCE (NEP) CHABUA	CE (AF) ALLAHABAD
CE (AF) BANGALORE	CE (AF) GANDHINAGAR	CE (AF) NAGPUR
CE (AF) SHILLONG	CE (AF) UDHAMPUR	CE (AF) WAC PALAM
CE (FY) HYDERABAD	CE ANDAMAN NICOBAR ZONE	CE BAREILLY
CE BATHINDA	CE BHOPAL	CE CHANDIGARH
CE CHENNAI	CE DELHI	CE JABALPUR
CE JAIPUR	CE JALANDHAR	CE JODHPUR
CE KOLKATA	CE LEH	CE LUCKNOW
CE NAVY KOCHI	CE NAVY MUMBAI	CE NAVY VIZAG
CE PATHANKOT	CE PUNE	CE RD DELHI
CE RD SECUNDERABAD	CE SE FALLS SHILLONG	CE SILIGURI
CE SRINAGAR	CE UDHAMPUR	DGNP MUMBAI
DGNP VIZAG	National War Museum and Memorial

CE- Chief Engineer, CCE- Chief Construction Engineer, AF- Air Force

See also

• Indian Engineering Services
• UPSC