New flashpoint: LG forms committee to resolve grievances of govt employees

NEW DELHI: A fresh tug of kicked off on Monday after Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal constituted a three-member committee to look into the grievances of Delhi government employees as well as the restructuring of Delhi Administration Subordinate Services and Stenographers (DASS) cadre.

However, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government attacked the LG's move, saying, "This is a mockery of the Constitution and blatant attempt to subvert and thwart the decision of the Supreme Court which laid down in clear terms that the Delhi LG has no independent powers.

"In fact, this is another attempt to cling on to ' Services' so that the Ministry of Home Affairs continues to control the officers in the Delhi government," said AAP in a statement.

A spokesperson of the party stated that Article 308 of the Constitution provides for the appropriate legislature to enact laws for recruitment and conditions of services of persons serving the union or a state.

The proviso to the Article states that until such a law is passed by the Assembly, the President in matters of the Union and the Governor in matters of a state may make rules on these subjects.

It is pertinent to mention that the appropriate legislature is the Delhi Assembly, as has been made clear by the Supreme Court. The court had stated that except for three subjects, all subjects fall under the legislative competent of the Delhi Assembly.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association also slammed the LG's notification.

The Association said DASS is an exclusive cadre of the government of Delhi and not a common cadre like IAS and DANICS.

"Hence, the Delhi government is competent to take a decisions on its service matters, and as such forced induction of Grade-1 (DASS) officers in lower pay scales would not only be illegal but against the constitutional provisions interpreted by the Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court," the Association observed.