Raise experts issue with services dept, Gahlot asks Delhi Transport Corporation

The transport minister asked DTC to not take action against 22 consultants sacked by lieutenant governor VK Saxena

Transport minister Kailash Gahlot has written to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), asking it to not remove 22 consultants sacked by lieutenant governor (LG) Saxena, adding that the decision will be taken up with the services department, a government official privy to the matter said on Thursday.

Kailash Gahlot, the transport minister of Delhi, asked DTC managing director Shilpa Shinde to not take action against the consultants to ensure smooth functioning of DTC. (HT Photo)

The 22 consultants in question are among the 400 “specialists” engaged by the Delhi government as advisors, fellows, consultants, and senior research officers, who were sacked by LG on July 3 as they had been engaged in a “non-transparent manner”, without the mandatory approvals of the competent authority.

In a letter dated July 25, Gahlot asked DTC managing director Shilpa Shinde to not take “precipitive action” against the consultants to ensure smooth functioning of DTC. The transport minister is the chairperson of the DTC board.

“I understand that DTC has engaged various consultants due to their domain knowledge and dis-engagement of these consultants suddenly would create a vacuum within the organisation. It is therefore essential that DTC takes up the matter with services department urgently. In the meantime, no precipitative action be taken to ensure smooth functioning of the DTC,” Gahlot said.

HT has seen a copy of the letter.

Shinde did not respond to requests for a comment on the transport minister’s letter.

A government official privy to the matter said the consultants engaged by DTC included officials who worked at various levels with the transport operator, and had retired within the last two years. The official said they had been hired as consultants because they had domain knowledge and relevant experience to ensure there is no supervisory manpower vacuum, and that work does not suffer because the posts vacated by retiring officials were not immediately filled.

The LG’s office declined to comment on Gahlot’s letter.