Striking a conciliatory tone, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi on Friday admitted that governance was getting affected by officials continuing to be in protest mode and avoiding verbal communication with the ministers, and said it wanted to assure the bureaucracy that all steps will be taken to ensure that they are not harmed.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Lt Governor Anil Baijal along with his cabinet to discuss the situation arising out of the alleged assault by AAP MLAs on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash.
Kejriwal tweeted after the meeting, “Officers not attending meetings for last 3 days. Governance suffering. I m v concerned. LG assured he will take all steps to ensure officers started functioning normally. Council of ministers assured him all cooperation. All of us need to work together for betterment of Delhi.”
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said they apprised Baijal about the developments of the last two to three days, telling him about the impact on the government's work of the virtual boycott of ministers by the bureaucracy.
“Officers are not coming for meetings. They do not even take our phone calls. As a result, meetings are getting cancelled,” said Sisodia.
The deputy chief minister said the Lt Governor assured the chief minister and his ministers that he will take steps to ensure that officials cooperate with the government. He also said that Kejriwal and his cabinet assured the Lt Governor that all steps will be taken to get officials on board. “All steps will be taken. We will talk to the officers,” he said.
The bureaucracy in Delhi are protesting against the alleged assault on Prakash by AAP MLAs at a midnight meeting at Kejriwal's residence. They have decided to communicate with the ministers only through notes on files, and avoid any verbal interaction with them. The officials are not attending any meetings.
Sisodia, however, parried a question on the demand made by the officialdom that it will end its protest only when Kejriwal apologises for the alleged beating up of Prakash, saying, “That incident is being wrongly narrated. A police investigation is on. The court is also apprised of the issue. Let us wait.”
The Lt Governor, meanwhile, issued a statement after his meeting with Kejriwal, condemning the alleged manhandling of Prakash. “There is no place for violence in democracy,” he said.
“The recent incidents which have taken place are unfortunate and condemnable. The elected government must take steps to restore trust deficit with government employees,” Baijal said.