Military Engineer Services (, "MES") is an inter-service organization of the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

responsible primarily for engineering and construction services for the

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consists of three uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backe ...

, including the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, Airforce and the

Ministry of Defense Production The Ministry of Defence Production (; ''Trans.'': ''Wazarat-e-Defai Padawar'') abbreviated as MoDP, is an executive ministry of the federal Government of Pakistan with objectives of development and production of ordnance and machinery for the ...

. Furthermore, it is involved in complex construction projects including hospitals, buildings, workshops, roads etc.

History

The organization's roots traces back to the 19th century with the foundation of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

, a Public Works Department was established in the mid-1850s to oversee engineering and construction works while under the control of the Military Board and manned by personnel from the Engineering Corps. It had three branches, Military Works Branch and Civil Works Branch. In 1899, the organization was renamed as Military Works Services and placed under direct command of the Director General Military Works (DGMW). It was finally termed to its current name in 1923. By this time, the organization of the Engineer-in-Chief for

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

was based on the workload of the MES. It was divided into four regional commands:- #Northern Command (Headquarters at Rawalpindi) #Central Command (Headquarters at Agra) #Southern Command (Headquarters at Poona) #Eastern Command (Headquarters at Calcutta) After

Independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

in 1947, the armed forces reconstitution committee divided the former British Indian Armed Forces which resulted with

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

receiving most of Northern Command as part of its share. Between 1958 and 1960, the Military Engineering Services saw notable restructuring with its sub-branches being established after approval by the Ministry of Defense.

Known projects

In 2023, the MES under the supervision of

Alternative Energy Development Board The Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) () was an agency of the Federal Government established in May 2003 with the main objective to facilitate, promote and encourage development of Renewable Energy in Pakistan and with a mission to intr ...

(AEDB) initiated a major power project for the military

cantonments A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

in Pakistan. The project which has been approved by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

National Electric Power Regulatory Authority The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (, abbreviated as NEPRA) is responsible for regulating the electricity supply in Pakistan. It is also responsible for issuing licences for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, ...

(NEPRA), and the

State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the central bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was nationalised and the scope ...

(SBP) will include collaboration with private companies including Nizam Energy, Solis Energy Solutions, and Foundation Solar Energy for the construction of solar power plants in order to shift energy dependence of cantonments from expensive sources to cheap renewable energy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Military Engineer Services of Pakistan M M Defence companies of Pakistan

History

Known projects

See also

References