Chief Secy shows who the boss is as he derails meetings
Senior bureaucrats of Delhi are in a fix owing to the lackadaisical approach of Chief Secretary (CS) SK Srivastava, who often arrives late for official meetings. This has caused considerable consternation among the principal secretaries and the Heads of Department (HoDs) who are made to wait for hours for the meeting to begin. This has become a routine affair these days at Players’ Building and the officers appear to have reconciled to their fate since Chief Secretary comes late to every meeting convened by him. Srivastava has reported late to all the meetings that took place in the current month.
Top sources said that Chief Secretary is in the habit of coming late to meetings convened by him while the principal secretaries and HoDs report to the meetings on time. Discussions and deliberations that are to be taken during the course of the meeting are delayed and meetings become a non-starter.
Many said that Chief Secretary often comes late for his meetings while others differ as they feel that the delay is deliberate. The wait gets prolonged and those called for the meeting either sit idle or go to the room of principal secretaries to while away their time.
A Principal Secretary said on the condition of the anonymity that the delay on part of the Chief Secretary is not only deliberate but also to convey to one and all that he is the boss. This usually upsets the programme and schedule of most of the bureaucrats heading key departments. “If this was inadvertent there was no issue with it but it has been continuing unabated. This has affected the morale of the officials at a time when Delhi is under President’s Rule and Chief Secretary is a vital cog in the decision-making body of the Government of National Capital Territory (GNCT) of Delhi,” he added.
“It can be condoned if the Chief Secretary was busy in meeting with the lieutenant Governor or the Ministry of Home Affairs but he remains seated in his office at the fifth floor of the Players Building that too when his presence was required in the scheduled meetings,” another senior bureaucrat added.
Another senior bureaucrat said on the condition of anonymity that he has experienced that Chief Secretary comes in his meeting always half an hour late. One of the senior official said that he doesn’t go to his office when any meeting is scheduled at the Chief Secretary Office. This was the refrain among Delhi Police officers too who often go to attend the meetings of the CS but are made to wait for hours as that has become the benchmark for any meeting to be chaired by the CS, sources added.