Report

CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND CONCLUSION 185
experience of seven years, professional experience of
two years, membership of recognised professional
engineering associates, etc. Similarly, competency
requirements for PE include application of engineering
theory, standards and practices; management of engineering
works; continuous development in engineering
profession; etc. Assessment is done on the basis of a
written examination, evaluation of professional, experience
for at least seven years after acquiring engineering
degree, evaluation of two years professional experience
in significant engineering work and evaluation of CPD.
Criteria for recognition of foreign engineers are:
• Engineers registered as PE by the members of EMF
shall automatically be certified in India. They will
be exempted from examinations and other requirement
as they would have been examined under an
equivalent system and would have bachelor’s degree
or equivalent in engineering from an accredited
institution and at least seven years experience.
• Others with engineering degree from foreign universities
will be required to go through all the procedures
including examinations as for engineers with
Indian degree. As regards fee, it is same for the
applicants from India and Nepal and different for
other applicants from all other countries. It is also
interesting to note that IEI provides guidelines for
engineering students, polytechnic students, technicians’
chapters, chartered engineers and professional
engineers.
Similarly, in Sri Lanka too there is no legislation
passed by the Parliament that makes it legally binding
for an engineer to register with the Institute of Engineers
of Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka specifies organisations
and companies for which membership with IEI is
mandatory. Foreign engineers can acquire membership
to the IEI provided they clear the local examinations.
Where such membership is not required, foreign
engineers can practice without membership.
The institution of engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) is
the national professional organisation of the country. 2
It is registered under the Societies Registration Act of
the country. IEB includes all disciplines of engineering.
Currently, it has in its roll more than 25000 engineers.
Since its establishments, IEB has been promoting and
disseminating knowledge and practice of engineering
and science. One of the major goals of IEB is to ensure
the professional excellence and continuous professional
development of the engineers in the country. It has also
been working relentlessly to establish close and cooperation
with the other professional bodies both in
Bangladesh and outside the country.
Established in 1968, Nepal engineers’ association
(NEA) is an independent non-profit organisation of
Nepalese engineers (NEA 2007). Today, it represents
more than 7500 engineers. NEA was founded with a
noble aim of developing engineering professionals to
promote the development process by application of
engineering sciences and technologies and at the same
time increasing the interaction, goodwill and cooperation
among engineers in Nepal and protect their
professional rights. NEA also aims to develop relations,
fellowship and goodwill with international engineering
associations and institutions.
As already discussed in Chapter 10, Pakistan engineering
council (PEC) is the regulatory body established
by an Act of Parliament which regulates engineering
education, gives certification to professional engineers
and advises government on all engineering and
construction related issues. Perhaps Pakistan is the only
SAFTA member country which has a statutory regulatory
body for professional engineers.
The Institution of Engineers, Pakistan (IEP) works
as non-governmental organisation (NGO) under the
Societies Registration Act. The institution provides
platform for interaction between academia and other
stakeholders and works for continuous improvement
of engineering students, academia, and professional
engineers. It came into existence in 1948, as successor
to the Institution of Engineers, UK. The major objective
of IEP is promoting professional development of
engineers. IEP has concluded agreements of collaboration
with 31 foreign professional societies including
IEI; IEB; Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka; and NEA.
As engineering remains an unregulated profession
in many of the South Asian countries their qualifications
based on graded institutions and a minimum working
experience in their home country should be considered
adequate to allow them to work in all these countries.
While efforts could be made to have a statutory body,
as in the case of India, a bill is awaiting the Parliament’s
approval, the aim should be that movement of engineers
is not made hostage to a lack of statutory regulatory body.
From the foregoing it appears that professional
associations, with or without delegated governmental
authority, perform a number of functions related
to capacity building, development of curricula,
2
The Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, http://www.iebbd.org/aboutus.htm, last visited on 9 December 2007.