Baijal asks Arvind Kejriwal to reach out to warring officers

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday again asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to reach out to officers who continue to boycott meetings with his ministers over an alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash.

Chief secretary Anshu Prakash and other officers and employees of the Delhi government outside Rajghat on Wednesday.(Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)

The L-G told this to Kejriwal when he came to meet Baijal as part of their weekly meeting. “Met Hon’ble CM @ArvindKejriwal. Reassured him of my complete support for steps to remove mistrust with Govt. employees. Encouraged again to reach out to them. It is important for all to work together in public interest in a secure and dignified work environment (sic),” Baijal tweeted after the meeting.

However, there seems to be no signs of a thaw in the bitter tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party government and its bureaucracy. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to twitter to talk about the meeting, but chose not to mention the issue.

“Met Hon’ble LG. Discussed following- 1. Disposal of silt from PWD n I&FC drains - Land wud be made available soon for the same. 2. Safety of schoolgirls from eveteasing when school closes- Beat constable wud be directed to move around in his area during school closing time,” he said.

CS joins protest march

Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, on Wednesday led a protest march by top Delhi government bureaucrats demanding a written apology from the chief minister over the alleged assault on him by Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.

The march, titled “March for Dignity”, started from the Delhi Secretariat and ended at Raj Ghat and saw participation by around 800-900 officers and employees holding candles in their hands.

Speaking to reporters after the march, the Government Employees Joint Forum reiterated their demand of a “written public apology” from Kejriwal.

The forum said that they would continue to not attend meetings or talk to ministers over phone and that they would contact ministers and MLAs only through the written channel till Kejriwal tenders a “written public apology”.

Manoj Parida, Principal Secretary (Home) and S.N. Sahai, Principal Secretary (Finance) were among the top bureaucrats who took part in the march.