Officers meet Kejriwal on Holi, but continue their stir

NEW DELHI: Senior office bearer's of the Delhi government on Friday met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to greet him on the occasion of Holi. However, no concrete solution was reached on for the logjam between the elected government and the bureaucracy.

On Saturday, the Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association asserted that all officials are "united to fight for the dignity and safety" of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash and other employees.

Delhi Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, who has been entrusted the responsibility of clearing the conflict between the officials and ministers, took initiative of Friday's meeting.

"We are trying our best and I think that the officials and the ministers will celebrate the Holi together," Gautam had said on Friday, indicating the possibility of a truce between the two sides.

However, sticking to their demands, members of the IAS officers association said they expected that the Chief Minister would tender an apology for the alleged assault on the Chief Secretary during his meeting at Kejriwal's residence, but he did not.

The association's president Dayanand Singh and a few other officials met CM Kejriwal at his residence on Holi on Friday.

In a statement, Singh said he met the Chief Minister at his residence after receiving information that "his (Kejriwal's) mother is serious and admitted to hospital and he is also suffering from fever."

A joint forum of Delhi government employees, including IAS and Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar & Islands Civil Services (DANICS) officers, have been boycotting meetings with Aam Aadmi Party ministers since the alleged assault on Prakash, demanding a written public apology from Kejriwal for the incident.

"We have not changed our stance on the assault of the chief secretary, and that we all are united to fight for the dignity and safety of the chief secretary and all other government employees.

"Our movement will continue and intensify until the chief minister apologises for the misconduct of MLAs who assaulted and misbehaved with the CS," the association's general secretary Deepak Bharadwaj said.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party continued its attack on the Chief Secretary alleging him of conspiring with the Lieutenant Governor and other officials to stop the functioning of government.

However, the government officers' body did not comment on the allegations, instead saying that they have no conflict with the people of Delhi but with the ministers.

They have demanded a written apology from the CM, as the alleged assault happened in front of him.