CM's office working without Principal Secy for nearly 2 yrs

NEW DELHI: Due to its deadlock with Raj Niwas, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's office is facing acute shortage of bureaucrats, ever since his former Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar was arrested by CBI.

Since Kumar's arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in July 2016 in an alleged case of bribery, no senior IAS officer has been deputed to the CM's office.

Recently, Prashant Kumar Panda, one of the two DANICS officers who had been posted by the Lieutenant Governor as Secretaries to the CM, was also transferred to Puducherry, following an order of the Union Home Ministry in the last month.

To add to the CM's woes, the Services Department recently turned its back on the elected government, by backing LG Anil Baijal in saying that the Outcome Report on the LG's performance painted "distorted and incorrect picture" of facts.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Services Department was brought under the LG's ambit after August 4, 2016.

In a recent statement, the CM's office had said that "it is a serious matter that the Delhi LG, who according to the Constitution of India is a representative (delegate) of the President of India, has been provoking and inciting officers to violate services rules and defy the democratically elected government purely on political grounds."

While Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia have repeatedly written to the LG, asking him to ensure that officers attend meetings, there has been no response from Baijal.

Sources in the Delhi government have claimed that the LG has not been trying to resolve the situation or take action against officers violating service rules.

The CM's office has also accused the Services department of not making plans to fill the vacancies in the Delhi government and has "rather chosen to beat around the bush."

During the tenure of former LG Najeeb Jung as well, several bureaucrats had been reshuffled, including DERC Chairman Krishna Saini, and OSD to the Health Minster Nikul Aggrawal.

In December 2015, officers of the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) went on mass leave for a day, when two special home secretaries were suspended by Delhi Home Minister Satyender Jain.