New Delhi, Feb. 20 (PTI): Enraged over the alleged assault of the Delhi chief secretary, a delegation of IAS, DANICS and subordinate services of Delhi government today met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who said civil servants should be allowed to work with dignity and without fear.
The delegation met the home minister a day after Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled by a few AAP MLAs at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, which the team of bureaucrats termed as a “pre-planned and pre-meditated” attack.
“I am deeply pained by the happenings involving the chief secretary of the Delhi government. The civil servants should be allowed to work with dignity and without fear,” Singh said in a tweet.
The home minister said the home ministry has sought a report on the incident from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and “justice will be done”.
Singh said the delegation of IAS, DANICS and subordinate services of Delhi government apprised him of the prevailing situation.
The delegation, which include the chief secretary, conveyed to the home minister that the “shocking physical assault meted out to the head of the administration of Delhi, in the form of blows on the head, amounting to threat to life and physical safety, is deplorable and and shocking”, an official privy to the meeting said.
Secretary of the IAS Association, Delhi, Manisha Saxena said the chief secretary has been insulted and they need action and not an apology. “We want a case slapped on the MLAs,” she said.
“This incident is the culmination of a series of incidents of officers being subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation by political authorities from time to time,” another member of the delegation said.
“All these incidents tend to lead to impairment of the effective functioning of the bureaucracy in free and impartial manner,” he said.
The incident took place last night in the presence of Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia , a senior Delhi government official alleged.
Prakash was called by Kejriwal regarding the issue of advertisements, which were not being released, the official said.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed he had been called for a discussion on rations.
“The allegation of assault is totally bizarre and baseless,” a senior official of the chief minister’s office said.
