In a no-holds barred attack on the Central government, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday claimed that the one-day strike by the Danics and IAS officers in Delhi was on the orders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Defending the Delhi government’s decision to suspend the two officers for not signing files on the orders of the Cabinet, Mr Kejriwal told a TV channel that the officers have no authority to overrule the orders given to them. “According to the rules, officers should follow the Cabinet orders. They are supposed to follow the decisions taken by the elected members of the Assembly. The Cabinet is supreme and the officers have no right to overrule that,” he said.
In an interview, Mr Kejriwal alleged that Danics and IAS officers act as the BJP’s “B-Team” and create hurdles in governance. He disclosed that Delhi lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung, who is holidaying in Goa, joined the officers through speaker phone at the meeting in which they decided to go on casual mass leave. He alleged that the L-G was in constant touch with the PMO and Union home secretary on the issue. Mr Kejriwal said that the Centre was using Mr Jung to create roadblocks in his governance. He proposed replacing IAS officers with the experts, alleging that it is the bureaucracy that was creating hurdles in everything and the country was facing so many problems due to this.
Hitting out at the officers for not complying with the orders, Mr Kejriwal said that people do not care even if the officers go on permanent leave. “We will not forgive hooliganism, if they do not follow our orders, they will be thrown out of Delhi. They can give their names and I will ensure that they are moved out of Delhi,” a furious Kejriwal said.
Subhash Chandra, special secretary (prisons), and Yashpal Garg, special secretary (prosecution), were suspended by the city government for allegedly refusing to sign on two Cabinet notes related to hiking salaries of public prosecutors and prison staff.
Following the order, the officers belonging to the Danics (Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service) cadre — to which Mr Chandra and Mr Garg belong — decided to go on strike. The Central government, however, declared the suspensions as invalid.
The Delhi government had earlier suspended three officers after they failed to provide relief material at the jhuggis which were destroyed in a railways demolition drive, and three other officers were suspended after the auto-permit scam came to light.
