MillenniumPost
Editorial

Toeing the line?

The Delhi government has taken the first step to resolve the current impasse with its bureaucracy over the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash. The Delhi government officials are maintaining only written communication with the political executive in a protest against the alleged assault on the Delhi Chief Secretary. They also observe a 5-minute silence beginning at 1.30 pm every working day to express their solidarity with the Chief Secretary. The Delhi government officials have found support from various staff associations outside Delhi. The Delhi government has deputed Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam to initiate talks with the agitating officials. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister are also expected to take the lead in holding meetings with Delhi government officials. A non-cooperative attitude of Delhi government officials has the potential to severely impair government's ability to take the welfare schemes to the people. Various initiatives that the government plans to implement in the state will not move any further if the government officials do not take keen interest in taking them to the people. Most importantly, the government needs to introduce the budget next month in the Assembly. That requires serious engagements and consultations between the government and the officials. The current situation in which the officials communicate with the government only through written words and avoid all meetings with the political executive is certainly not a conducive environment for the preparation of the budget or its introduction in the Assembly. The government's stand on the Anshu Prakash assault controversy is that those who are accused of assaulting the Chief Secretary have been arrested and put in jail. The Delhi Police is vigorously pursuing the case and in order to a frame the charge sheet against the MLA duos Prakash Jarwal and Amanatullah Khan, the police had even gone to the Chief Minister's residence and collected forensic and other evidences. Since the law is being followed in the Chief Secretary assault case, the Delhi government thinks that the officials should stop agitating against the government and start participating in meetings and other government affairs whole-heartedly. But the government officials are adamant on their demand to seek a public apology from the Chief Minister for the assault on the top bureaucrat of the state.
Former bureaucrats maintain that it will not be easy for the state government to pacify the agitating government officials. The physical assault on the Chief Secretary by a group of AAP MLAs in the presence of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister was too intimidating and humiliating to forget so soon. The government officials are in a state of fear and shock. After the midnight brawl in which the Chief Secretary was assaulted at the Chief Minister's residence, the Delhi government officials fear for their safety and dignity. Though Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his government looks isolated on the issue, he has so far been avoiding saying sorry for the incident. Delhi government's overture in which it has deputed Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam to break the ice between Delhi government and its bureaucracy has not been reciprocated by the government officials. Gautam is a lawyer and social worker. He is considered to have a good rapport with government officials. The chances of he being able to pacify government officials are not very high, given the scar that the Chief Secretary assault case has left on the Delhi government bureaucracy. To many, the three years of AAP government in Delhi is synonymous with its fight with the state bureaucracy and the Centre appointed Lieutenant Governor. In these fights, the state government also tried to bend the state bureaucracy and make it toe the AAP's line. In the three years, there has hardly been an issue on which the LG and the state government had similar views. The tug of war between the LG and the state government often ended up sharpening the divide between the state government and the state bureaucracy. There is mutual distrust between them, which the Chief Secretary assault case has further deepened. Politically, the AAP government's fight against the LG has benefitted it as these acrimonious episodes keep the AAP government in the news. Its supporters think the party and the leaders are fighting for their welfare. Immediately before the Chief Secretary assault case, the AAP looked a mere shadow of its previous avatar of a party that does not fear to fight for its goals. The single incident of assaulting the Chief Secretary has once again brought the party to the forefront. Whatever be the final outcome of the assault case, the AAP has once again succeeded in invading the public memory by its fighting spirit.

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