Fancyhdr footer not working on pages where a chapter does not begin

Question

I'm using fancyhdr to put a text and page number on every page:

\usepackage{fancyheadings}

\fancypagestyle{plain}{
\fancyhf{}
\lhead{section \bfseries \thesection}
\chead{CS04-708 Main Project, 2011}
\cfoot[{\vspace*{0.2cm}Department of Production Engineering, GEC - Thrissur \\ \thepage }]{\vspace*{0.2cm}Department of     Production Engineering, GEC - Thrissur \\ \thepage }
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0.5pt}
}

I'm getting the required footer only on pages where a chapter has begun (remember the default page style of a page where chapter begins is plain) rest of the pages have just the number (I'm guessing its the default style). I've been hunting Google a fix, but no avail.

EDIT

The CLS File

\ProvidesClass{mainreport}[]

\DeclareOption*{\PassOptionsToClass{\CurrentOption}{report}}
\ProcessOptions

\LoadClass[12pt,oneside]{report}

\RequirePackage{graphicx}
\RequirePackage{amsfonts}
\RequirePackage{multicol}


% The list of packages needed for creating an advanced report class.

\RequirePackage{amsmath}
\RequirePackage{setspace}
\RequirePackage{textcase}
\RequirePackage[  bottom = 2.50cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{plain}
\fancypagestyle{plain}{
    \fancyhf{}
    \lfoot{Department of Production Engineering, GEC - Thrissur }
    \rfoot{\thepage}
    \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
    \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}
}




% Macro for List of Symbols
\def\listofsymbols{\input{symbols} \clearpage}
\def\addsymbol #1: #2#3{$#1$ \> \parbox{5in}{#2 \dotfill \pageref{#3}}\\}
\def\newsymbol#1{\label{#1}} 

\pagenumbering{roman}

\setcounter{secnumdepth}{5}
\setcounter{tocdepth}{5}


% for setting up alternative directory paths to graphics files,
% remember to comment in "graphics" package
%
\graphicspath{{./eps/}{./tiff/}{./jpg/}{./fig/}{./dia/}{./gnuplot/}{./png/}}


%------------
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{verbose,a4paper,tmargin=25.4mm,bmargin=31.75mm,lmargin=38.1mm,rmargin=31.75mm}

%To generate list of abbreviations
\usepackage{nomencl}
\makenomenclature


\renewcommand{\section}{\@startsection
{section}%                   % the name
{1}%                         % the level
{0mm}%                       % the indent
{-\baselineskip}%            % the before skip
{0.5\baselineskip}%          % the after skip
{\fontsize{12pt}{14.4pt}\selectfont \bf  \MakeTextUppercase}} % the style

\renewcommand\contentsname{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\selectfont \bf  \centering  \MakeTextUppercase{ Table of Contents}}
\renewcommand\listfigurename{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\selectfont \bf  \centering  \MakeTextUppercase{ List of Figures}}
\renewcommand\listtablename{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\selectfont \bf  \centering  \MakeTextUppercase{List of Tables }}
\renewcommand\nomname{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\selectfont \bf  \centering  \MakeTextUppercase{List of Abbreviations }}
\renewcommand\abstractname{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\selectfont \bf  \centering  \MakeTextUppercase{Abstract }}
\renewcommand\bibname{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\selectfont \bf  \centering  \MakeTextUppercase{Abstract }}

%\renewcommand\listsymbolsname{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\selectfont \bf  \centering  \MakeTextUppercase{Bibliography }}

\newcommand{\chhead}{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\selectfont \centerline}
\makeatletter
\def\@makechapterhead#1{%
  \vspace*{50\p@}%
  {\parindent \z@ \raggedright \normalfont
    %\ifnum \c@secnumdepth >\m@ne
    %    \huge\bfseries \@chapapp\space \thechapter
    %    \par\nobreak
    %    \vskip 20\p@
    %\fi
    \interlinepenalty\@M
    {\centering  \fontsize{14}{16.82} \selectfont  \bf \bfseries \thechapter .  \MakeTextUppercase{#1}\par\nobreak }
    \vskip 40\p@
  }}

  \makeatother

And the TEX File

\newcommand{\projecttitle}{fImpact of Valve timing in Engine Performance}
\newcommand{\projectauthors}{{\normalsize \bf {Arvind.S.A}}}

\documentclass{mainreport}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\linespread{1.5}
\begin{document}
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Abstract}
\chapter*{Abstract}
\lipsum[1]
\tableofcontents
\newpage
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{List of abbreviations}
\input{abbreviation}
\pagenumbering{arabic}
\chapter{First}
\lipsum[1-3]
\chapter{seond}
\lipsum[1-3]

%\bibliographystyle{amsplain}
%\bibliography{master}

\end{document}

I thank you for your trouble.

Answer 1

The class you're using has many deficiencies. The main one is the very wrong way to set the unnumbered chapters.

Here's an amended version:

\ProvidesClass{mainreport}

\DeclareOption*{\PassOptionsToClass{\CurrentOption}{report}}
\ProcessOptions

\LoadClass[12pt,oneside]{report}

\RequirePackage{graphicx}
\RequirePackage{amsfonts}
\RequirePackage{multicol}


% The list of packages needed for creating an advanced report class.

\RequirePackage{amsmath}
\RequirePackage{setspace}
\RequirePackage{textcase}

% Macro for List of Symbols
\def\listofsymbols{\input{symbols} \clearpage}
\def\addsymbol #1: #2#3{$#1$ \> \parbox{5in}{#2 \dotfill \pageref{#3}}\\}
\def\newsymbol#1{\label{#1}} 

\pagenumbering{roman}

\setcounter{secnumdepth}{5}
\setcounter{tocdepth}{5}


% for setting up alternative directory paths to graphics files,
% remember to comment in "graphics" package
%
\graphicspath{{./eps/}{./tiff/}{./jpg/}{./fig/}{./dia/}{./gnuplot/}{./png/}}


%------------
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{verbose,a4paper,tmargin=25.4mm,bmargin=31.75mm,lmargin=38.1mm,rmargin=31.75mm}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
    \fancyhf{}
    \lfoot{Department of Production Engineering, GEC - Thrissur }
    \rfoot{\thepage}
    \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
    \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}
\fancypagestyle{plain}{
    \fancyhf{}
    \lfoot{Department of Production Engineering, GEC - Thrissur }
    \rfoot{\thepage}
    \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
    \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}
}




%To generate list of abbreviations
\usepackage{nomencl}
\makenomenclature


\renewcommand{\section}{\@startsection
{section}%                   % the name
{1}%                         % the level
{0mm}%                       % the indent
{-\baselineskip}%            % the before skip
{0.5\baselineskip}%          % the after skip
{\fontsize{12pt}{14.4pt}\selectfont \bfseries  \MakeTextUppercase}} % the style


\DeclareRobustCommand{\chhead}{\fontsize{14pt}{16.8pt}\bfseries\centering}
\def\@makechapterhead#1{%
  \vspace*{50\p@}%
  {\parindent \z@ \normalfont\centering
    %\ifnum \c@secnumdepth >\m@ne
    %    \huge\bfseries \@chapapp\space \thechapter
    %    \par\nobreak
    %    \vskip 20\p@
    %\fi
    \interlinepenalty\@M
    {\chhead\thechapter. \MakeTextUppercase{#1}\par\nobreak }
    \vskip 40\p@
  }}
\def\@makeschapterhead#1{%
  \vspace*{50\p@}%
  {\parindent \z@ \normalfont\centering
    %\ifnum \c@secnumdepth >\m@ne
    %    \huge\bfseries \@chapapp\space \thechapter
    %    \par\nobreak
    %    \vskip 20\p@
    %\fi
    \interlinepenalty\@M
    {\chhead\MakeTextUppercase{#1}\par\nobreak }
    \vskip 40\p@
  }}

Now if in your document you want to add your header, use

\lhead{section \bfseries \thesection}
\chead{CS04-708 Main Project, 2011}

I don't know whether the class is provided by your company. If it is, it shouldn't set an explicit footer, but rely on macros defined in the document.

Answer 2

Without a complete MWE, we can only guess your problem. The following code works for me:

% Book Class (This is a LaTeX2e document)  ***********************
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
\documentclass[12pt]{book}
\usepackage{lipsum}%provides dummy text
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage[margin=1in,showframe]{geometry} % to show frames and control page layout
% ----------------------------------------------------------------
\fancypagestyle{plain}{% 
\fancyhf{} 
\lfoot{Department of Production Engineering, GEC - Thrissur } 
\rfoot{\thepage} 
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt} 
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt} 
}
%
\pagestyle{plain}
%
\begin{document}
\chapter{First}
\lipsum[1-8]
%
\end{document}

Footer of the chapter page:

and the footer of second page:

To get an accurate diagnosis, consider adding a complete (non)working MWE.