Kerala Public Works Department (KPWD) is a department under the government of the state of Kerala, India. It manages the construction and maintenance of civil structures owned by the government viz; government buildings, government owned hospitals (part of the public health system), roads, bridges etc.The Hindu. 'Roadworks nearing completion'.The Hindu. 'State to shift to concrete roads'. The KPWD was formed in 1956 following reorganization of states.Government of Kerala Official Website. 'Public Works Department'.
History In Kochi, British Residents had a separate department called Public Works Commission to carry off construction works in British Cochin. The kingdom had its own Marmath Department since 1825, as a separate agency to monitor construction of roads and palaces.
In 1901, the Kingdoms of Travancore and Kochi agreed to have an unified PWD Code and a permanent Joint commission of PWD Engineers in both sides were formed. The Travancore Maramath was headed by a chief engineer, whereas it was a Diwan Peshkar (State Secretary) who headed Kochi Marmath.
In 1949, when United State of Travancore-Cochin was formed, both the Maramath Departments were merged and renamed as Kerala PWD. Over the years the department has grown substantially and now has 8 Chief Engineers, 25 Superintending Engineers, 76 Executive Engineers, 289 Assistant Executive Engineers, 639 Assistant Engineers and other supporting staff.
About Department
The department is headed by a senior minister of cabinet rank. Presently P. K. Basheer, representing Eranad Constituency is the minister for PWD. The Minister is assisted by a senior IAS officer, Secretary for Public Works who heads the secretariat functions. As a technical department, it has a council composed of Chief Engineers and technical advisors along with nominated representatives from economical and social spheres.
Wings
Administration Wing This wing is headed by a Chief Engineer (Administration) and deals with matters related to the general administration and human resources management pertains to the whole department. Establishment matters, human resource development, Information technology & e-Governance related matters and internal vigilance are the main functions of this wing. Administration wing functions from the head office at Thiruvananthapuram and there are no sub-offices for this wing at any parts of the State. The following are the main sections under the administration wing.
Roads Wing Roads wing deals with the planning, project preparation, construction, maintenance and arrangement of works of all State Highways and Major District Roads under the State. This wing is having its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram and is under the control of a Chief Engineer (Roads) who is assisted by a Deputy Chief Engineer, a Senior Finance Officer and supported by technical and other ministerial staff. This wing have field offices with Circle offices at regional level, division offices at district level, sub-division offices at taluk level and Section offices at the lowest level.
There are three Circle offices under the roads wing namely south circle, Central circle and North circle each headed by a Superintending Engineer. Under each Circle offices there are division offices headed by an Executive Engineer. The sub-division offices are headed by Assistant Executive Engineer and Section offices are headed by Assistant Engineer.
PWD roads constitute 15 per cent of the total road network in the State carrying which carries nearly 80 per cent of the total road traffic within the State. The total length of roads maintained by Roads Wing is 29109.68 km out of which 4127.74 km is State Highways and 24975.34 km is Major District Roads (MDRs) .
Bridges Wing Bridges wing is formed exclusively for the construction and maintenance of various types of bridges under Kerala PWD on 27.03.2018 as a part of the initiative "Puthiya kalam Puthiya nirmanam". This wing is formed based on the Road and Bridge Maintenance Policy of the Government. This wing is headed by a Chief Engineer (Bridges) with supporting staff. This wing is having its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram with two circle offices seven division offices fourteen subdivisions and forty section offices.
A total number of 2768 bridges are being maintained by PWD Bridges Wing, Kerala out of which 427 bridges are in State Highways and 1938 are in Major District Roads/ Other District Roads.
National Highways Wing National Highways wing of the State PWD was formed for the maintenance and upkeep of National Highways entrusted to State PWD in accordance with NH Act 1956 by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways(MoRTH), Government of India. There are 11 National Highways in Kerala with a total length of 1781.36 km and of which 548 km of NH is currently maintained by the State PWD. The remaining 1233.5 km is currently with the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI) as part of the four/six laning programme of MoRTH.
This wing is headed by a Chief Engineer (National Highways), and supported by other officials.
Buildings Wing The buildings wing deals with the planning, project preparation, construction, maintenance and arrangement of works including water supply, electrification and electronic works of public buildings. The headquarters of buildings wing is at Thiruvananthapuram and is under the control of a Chief Engineer assisted by Deputy Chief Engineer and a Senior Finance Officer supported by technical and non-technical staff. The organisational structure of buildings wing is as below
Apart from the regular field offices like circle, division, sub-division and section offices, the following additional offices also works under the Buildings wing
Projects Wing Projects wing is formed to execute externally aided projects and specialised projects. Currently this wing is executing the World Bank aided Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP). Administration head of this wing will be the IAS officer (Project Director) and technically headed by a Chief Engineer. The main aim of this wing is upgradation of the State Highway. The organisational structure of Projects wing is as below
Apart from the regular field offices like two circle and four division offices, the following additional offices also works under the Projects wing Design Wing Design wing of PWD deals with the design, research, investigation and quality control aspects of various infrastructure projects and is headed by a Chief Engineer. Chief Engineer is assisted by the Director (Research & Quality Control), Director (Buildings) and Director (Highways) in the design and quality control aspects.
At present, the department is having specialised units for structural design of buildings, design of bridges, design of highways, Geotechnical engineering unit, Environmental engineering unit, MEP design unit for Building services (Electrical design, Plumbing design and HVAC design) and a project preparation unit with sufficient staff strength. The Design wing is functioning with headquarters in the office of the Chief Engineer (Design) in Thiruvananthapuram known as Chief Design Office (CDO). In addition there are Regional Design Offices (RDO) at Eranakulum and Kozhikode. Apart from this there is a full-fledged investigation and quality control wing under the Design wing which is having regional I&QC laboratories at Thiruvananthapuram, Eranakulam and Kozhikode with sufficient district level quality control laboratories.
The Kerala Highway Research Institute (KHRI) at Thiruvananthapuram carries out research & quality control works and gives advice and guidance for advanced construction works undertaken by the department. KHRI has well established laboratories for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Division, Concrete Division, Traffic Division and Flexible Pavement Division.
Road Maintenance Wing Road Maintenance wing is formed for maintaining various types of roads under the control of Kerala PWD through the adoption of new technologies and methods. This wing is formed based on the Road and Bridge Maintenance Policy of the Government. This wing is headed by a Chief Engineer (Road Maintenance) with supporting staff. This wing is having its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram with seven division offices fourteen subdivisions. The organisational setup of the Road Maintenance wing is as shown below Architectural Wing
The Architectural wing is responsible for the preparation and finalization of all architectural designs and drawings for buildings and similar works to be executed by the Public Works Department. Though primarily intended for the Buildings branch, the assistance of Architectural wing is taken for architectural designs in the other areas of construction such as bridges, highway structures, landscaping and urban beautification works etc. This wing headed by a Chief Architect and supported by other Architects having its main office in Thiruvananthapuram . There are two regional offices also at Ernakulam and Kozhikode. The organizational setup of the Architectural wing is as shown below Allied institutions The following organisations are functioning under the Department.
Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Ltd (RBDCK). Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) Kerala State Construction Corporation Ltd. (KSCC) Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation Ltd Road Infrastructure Company Kerala Limited (RICK)
Rest Houses PWD also have several Tourist Bungalows located in various important tourist destinations, available for tourists for daily rent, though the government has started the process of handing over several TBs to KTDC.
List of Ministers List of Cabinet Ministers who held the Public Works Department portfolio in various ministries: No. Name Term Start Term End Party Chief Minister P. K. Basheer 20 May 2026 Present IUML V. D. Satheesan P. A. Mohammed Riyas 25 May 2021 09 April 2026 CPI(M) Pinarayi Vijayan G. Sudhakaran 25 May 2016 24 May 2021 V. K. Ebrahim Kunju 18 May 2011 25 May 2016 IUML Oommen Chandy P. J. Joseph 17 August 2009 30 April 2010 Kerala Congress V. S. AchuthanandanMons Joseph18 October 200716 August 2009Kerala CongressT. U. Kuruvilla15 September 200604 September 2007Kerala CongressP. J. Joseph17 May 200604 September 2006Kerala CongressM. K. Muneer31 August 200412 May 2006IUMLOommen Chandy17 May 200129 August 2004A. K. AntonyP. J. Joseph20 May 199613 May 2001Kerala CongressE. K. NayanarC.T. Ahammed Ali22 March 19959 May 1996IUMLA.K. Antony P.K.K Bava29 June 199116 March 1995IUMLK. KarunakaranT.K. Hamza02 April 198717 June 1991CPIME. K. Nayanar.K. Avukaderkutty Naha (Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala)24 October 198325 March 1987IUMLK. KarunakaranC.H. Mohammed Koya (Deputy Chief Minister of Kerala)24 May 198228 September 1983C.H. Mohammed Koya28 December 198117 March 1982IUMLK. KarunakaranP. M. Aboobacker25 January 198020 October 1981E.K. NayanarN.K. Balakrishnan12 October 197901 December, 1979PSPC.H Mohammed Koya K. Pankajakshan29 October 197807 October 1979RSPP. K. Vasudevan Nair25 March 197725 April 1977RSPK. Karunakaran 19 January 197625 March 1977RSPC. Achutha MenonT. K. Divakaran4 October 197019 January 1976RSPC. Achutha Menon C. Achutha Menon1 November 19693 August 1970CPIHimselfT. K. Divakaran6 March 196721 October 1969RSPE. M. S. NamboodiripadP. P. Ummer Koya8 September 196210 September 1964INCR. SankarD. Damodaran Potti26 September 19628 October 1962PSPR. Sankar 22 February 196026 September 1962PSPPattom A. Thanu PillaiT. A. Majeed5 April 195731 July 1959CPIE. M. S. Namboodiripad
References
See also Roads in Kerala Roads and Bridges Development Corporation Central Public Works Department