On one hand the AAP Government is at loggerheads with a large number of bureaucrats, on the other hand it is all set to celebrate Civil Services Day on April 19 (Tuesday) in the national Capital.
The occasion will see addresses by none other than Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia.
A circular to this effect issued by Deputy Secretary (GAD) Amitabh Kundoo said, "Civil Services Day is celebrated on April 21 on each year. As part of the celebration, a function is being held on April 19, where in the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister have graciously agreed to share their insights with the civil servants of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi".
Asked why the AAP Government was celebrating Civil Services Day on April 19, a senior bureaucrat said officers will be attending a programme organised by the BJP-led Government at the Centre on Civil Services Day on April 21. This will be a second occasion when the city Government will be celebrating the Civil Services Day.
The Civil Services Day is being celebrated on April 21 every year since 2006 as it was on this particular day that the country's first Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel addressed the first batch of civil servants in Independent India at Metcalf House where he referred to civil servants as the 'steel frame of India' .
In Delhi, a section of the bureaucrats have been at loggerheads with the AAP Government over a host of issues concerning policy making and the day-to-day governance.
Also, Delhi earned the distinction of becoming the first Union Territory where civil servants went on a half day leave on December 31, in protest against the AAP Government's order to suspend two special secretaries of the Home Department for not toeing their line. A former Chief Secretary said, "The strike by civil servants is a very serious issue. It is also a rare occasion that they have en-mass gone on strike in any State or at the Centre in the past 68 years."