Following a communiqué from the Ministry of Home Affairs asking for the list of consultants and officers on deputation appointed by the Delhi Government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday shot a letter to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying the Centre does not have the authority to ask the State Government to furnish such a list.
“You have sought to know the number of IAS posts now held by other officers. As per my knowledge, there won’t be more than two or three such officers. I am confident that the Central Government would have also asked for this information from Shivraj Singh Chouhan, N Chandrababu Naidu, Vasundhara Raje,and Devendra Fadnavis as well,” Kejriwal wrote in the letter.
Kejriwal then sought information about the number of consultants hired by the Modi Government in the last two years. He asked Singh to tell him how many officers were not from the IAS held posts meant for IAS officers in Uttar Pradesh when he (Rajnath Singh) was its Chief Minister.
Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) shot a letter to the Delhi Government asking them to furnish details of all officers on deputation with the AAP Government. The MHA also instructed the Government to provide details of all consultants employed on contract basis in Delhi.
“It is requested to furnish details of all officers on deputation to GNCTD and other subordinate organisation in GNCTD as per the format I and II attached. It is also requested to provide details of consultants employed by the GNCTD on contract basis. The process followed with regard to deputation and employment of consultants on contractual basis may also be provided,” MHA’s under secretary Dilip Kumar said in a letter, sent to Chief Secretary of Delhi on May 24.
The MHA letter came in the wake of lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung’s letter to Nripendra Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he said SK Nagarwal of the Indian Railway Services of Engineers (IRSE) while on study leave was found working in the office of the Home Minister of Delhi Government on December 12, 2015.
The l-G has also said Principal Secretary to the CM, who is holding the charge of services department, has not provided any information. There are several instances of serving officer from Central services and retired officers from the All India Services being directly engaged by the elected Government without approval of the l-G.
In his letter to Home Minister, Kejriwal remarked that he was happy Modi was taking so much interest in the affairs of the Delhi Government.
“The PM spends much of his time abroad. But when he is in India, much of his time is consumed on matters related to the Delhi Government,” said Kejriwal.
Also, the CM asked Singh to detail the steps taken by the Central Government to contain what he said was the deteriorating law and order situation in Delhi. He said he was “worried” over rising incidents of crime in the Capital. “Day-by-day, incidents of rape are increasing. The law and order situation has been badly hit... There is jungle raj... As Chief Minister, I am worried. I request you to tell me what steps have been taken by the Central Government and the l-G to contain the situation.”
He asked Singh to dedicate at least an hour every day on issues related to law and order in Delhi — till such time the Delhi Police was made accountable to the elected Government.
Earlier in the day, AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused the l-G of “spying for the PMO” and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to destabilise the Delhi Government.