Civil Services authority formed by Centre reduced to farce: Delhi CMO

New Delhi: The civil services authority set up by the Centre through an ordinance to control transfer of officers working under the Delhi government has been reduced to a “complete farce”, allowing bureaucrats to overturn decisions taken by an elected chief minister and dictating their own will, the CM’s office said on Sunday.

The statement came two days after the second meeting of the National Capital Civil Services Authority during which two member-bureaucrats “did not oppose” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s stand but later on cancelled his decisions.

The three-members NCCSA was set up by the Centre through the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, promulgated on May 19 to create an authority for transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi.

It comprises the chief minister as chairperson, with the chief secretary and principal secretary (home) as members. It was bestowed with powers to take decisions by a simple majority.

“However, this simple majority has enabled the bureaucrats to override the CM’s decisions, effectively granting them unchecked power over the authority’s operations. Consequently, the Chief Minister’s voice, representing the will of the elected government and the people of Delhi, finds itself in the minority within the NCCSA,” the CMO said in the statement.

During the June 29 meeting, Kejriwal expressed concerns over pending transfer-posting proposals and issued directives for request transfers of women officers. He also recorded objections to the removal of “competent officers” from the Education Department, the statement said.

Eleven women officers had requested for transfers on sympathetic grounds, it said, adding the chief minister supported it, noting that working women handle both office and home, and therefore their pleas must be considered favourably.

The statement claimed the two bureaucrats did not oppose the CM’s stand during meeting. “However, regrettably, when finalizing the minutes of the meeting, the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Home) callously overturned all of the Chief Minister’s decisions, proceeding with their own agenda instead.”

As a result, the 11 women officers have been denied transfers despite compelling reasons, and competent officers are being removed from the Education Department, jeopardising the progress made thus far, the statement noted.

“The National Capital Civil Service Authority has been reduced to a complete farce with bureaucrats dictating their own will and overturning CM’s decisions,” the statement said, alleging a “carefully orchestrated” plan to undermine Delhi’s education revolution and impede the elected government’s achievements.

It is functioning under the stated chairpersonship of the chief minister even though none of the decisions made by it align with the CM’s endorsement, the statement said.

“In the same meeting, the Chief Minister proposed that the posting requests made by Ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Raaj Kumar Anand be recommended by the Authority. However, the bureaucrats again took advantage of their majority and refused to entertain the matter in the meeting,” it said.

The first meeting of the NCCSA was held on June 20. Addressing a press conference following the first meeting of the NCCSA, Kejriwal had termed the delay in approving of minutes a “farce” and a “conspiracy to not let the elected government do any work in Delhi.”

He claimed that through the NCCSA, the Centre wants to make it look like the body takes important decisions for Delhi mutually. But in reality, that is not the case, he had claimed.

The Centre’s National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance came a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi -- excluding police, public order and land -- to the city’s elected government.