Being forced to carry protest, claim subordinate officers

NEW DELHI: In a fresh twist to the deadlock between the elected Delhi government and and the bureaucracy, a section of subordinate officers have alleged that the IAS Officers' Association is pressurising them to continue the protest and demand Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's apology.

These officers said that they have already met the CM and sorted out the issue and that asking for an apology from the Chief Minister is not the right way to fight the issue.

"An apology from the Chief Minister is an impractical demand, when a police case against the concerned MLAs has been registered," said DN Singh, president of the Joint Council of All Employees Organisation.

Singh claimed the IAS Officers' Association's protest was "politically motivated".

"Where was their solidarity when a senior IAS officer like Ashok Khemka was harassed by the government in Haryana?" he asked, referring to the noted bureaucrat who has been transferred 51 times in his 27-year career.

The association, while callin the allegation "baseless", however, did not comment on Singh's stand. They earlier had criticised some officials who had met the CM to sort out the issue.

Delhi Social Welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam had taken the initiative to meet Singh and the officials to discuss the matter, where he raised the issue that for the development of the Capital the issue should be sorted out.

Gautam and Singh had decided that officials should meet the CM and listen to his version. When a group of officials, along with Singh met Kejriwal on Holi, the Association had criticised that too.

In his first direct comment on the alleged attack on the Chief Secretary, the Chief Minister had said last Wednesday that he can be stubborn, but not violent since only cowards resort to violence.

In a bid to persuade government employees to end the stalemate between the AAP-led Delhi government and the bureaucracy, a meeting was held at the CM's residence on Wednesday, where Kejriwal spoke to a group of employees belonging to the Delhi Administration Subordinate Service and some unions.

In fact, within hours of the meeting, the president of Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association, Dayanand Singh – involved in the latest initiative – was suspended from his post.

Deepak Bhardwaj, general secretary of the association, said the decision was taken at an emergency meeting since "Singh had breached the trust of the employees by arbitrarily attending the meeting with the political executive against the decision of the association."